ID  M  a 

(i  SI  '^IJBnQ  joj  A?I^n5 

I'soqonoo  AVrjsadBj, 

'sre}sapea[ 

'saiq^X  uaoojpag 

'saiqiJX  ^OIJTJcC 
'sjaujqBO  joijBc[ 
'siamq-eo  oisriH 
'saiqBX  2[JOAi  ,saipBi 


als  to  conquer,  so  in  1897  he  started 
.ie  to  the  Arctic  regions  after  the  most 
ote  animal  in  the  world—the  musk  ox 
captured  five  alive  and  turned  his 
southward,  leading  his  captives  tied 
us  dogr  sled.  Day  after  day  he  plodded 
ig,  traveling  and  sleeping  in  the  day- 
em  and  fighting  off  the  Arctic  wolves 
night. 

he  Indians  and  Eskimos  had  warned 
1  repeatedly  not  to  attempt  to  take 
7  musk  ox  out  of  those  regions  alive 
■ey  believed  that  if  any  were  taken  our 
Ly  would  be  damned  in  the  eyes  of  the 
eator.  They  are  a  superstitious  as  well 
As  Religious  People. 

t  Jones  heeded  not  their  warning  One 
)rning  when  he  awoke  he  was  horrified 
find  his  Ave  musk  ox  dead  with  their 
roats   cut.    The   natives  had  followed 
gn  and  put  into  execution  their  threats. 
[Recently  a  musk  ox  was  brought  by  a 
haler  and  sold  to  a  Chicago  man.  The 
3w  owner  did  not  know  whether  it  was 
musk  ox  or  not.  He  was  afraid  that  he 
ad   been   bricked.   He   wired  "Buffalo" 
ones  to  meet  him  at  the  Santa  Fe  train 
t  Topeka  to  identify  the  animal.  Jones 
let  him  and  announced  it  a  genuine  musk 
x.  It  was  then  christened  "Olive  Jones," 
fter  tne  daughter  of   "Buffalo"  Jones, 
f  Jones  gets  his  government  reserve  he 
nil  try  to  get  specimens  of  all  the  wild 
mimals   of  the   North   American  conti- 
lent,  such  as  musk  ox,  elk,  deer,  rein- 
leer  and  mountain  sheep,  to  put  on  the 
a"-Sh^along  witn  the  buffalo  and  catalo. 

Buffalo"  Jones  never  tires  of  talking 
ibout  his  adventures  on  the  plains  in  the 
arctic  regions.  In  telling  of  the  first  time 
tie  ever  saw  a  herd  of  buffalo,  he  says:— 
I  The  first  herd  of  buffalo  1  ever  saw 
was  composed  of  about  20  old  bulls  The 
gentleman  with  me,  Mr.  Schultz,  first  no- 
ticed them  coming  toward  us  and  we  se- 
creted outselves  in  a  shallow  buffalo  wal- 
ow,  having  to  lie  very  close  to  the  ground 
-a  prevent  their  seeing  papsuoa  puB^en 


s; 
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wi 
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h\ 
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a 

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Pi 
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Pi 
Pi 
a 
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oiu   ^[usudj   yuts    yum  !' 

eru}  si  eqg  -a\iojs  Am  pioi  i  jaq  oi  pub  I 
'an  Joqaoui  Am  punoj  t  -amoq  pto  9trj  o; 
1U9ai  i  uaqx  iqSil^'ep  ttiun  Pioo  9qi  ui 
puno.iB  pe^i^Ai  i  puis  'uoriBis  pooMSuon; 
aqi  p9qoB9j  i  uaqA\  3fjBp  a\J9a  sba\  h,  . 
uxibj  emil  jn'o  uo  a"9Uoui  pap99u  9q;  ©srej 
8ui  dieq  iqSriu  '9j9qi  ssaii  oq^  'aaqiotu 
Atu  }Bqi  ©doq  9qi  u\  'poomSuckt  joi 
ujb.ii  iqSiupitu  9qi  uo  I  inq  'Aioutf 

iou  op  i,  qji/a  Am  oj  prcs  i  reqAi,  „ 

•lunoorB  Sufssuu  oqi  90B{d9j  pub  Azuom 
fm  ©spu  o}  sbm.  iqSnoqi  Aiuo  Aui  pub 
iC^aixti-B  pub  %wej  q;jA\  pazBao-jrBq  ouii} 
sjqi  Aq  sb-AI  I  '^B9  o;  Suiqi^UB  JSumaS 
:moq:n/M.  «9uioq  au9M  pub  dn  pasop  j,  „ 

•9UO  }09XI00  9qa  SBM  A\l09qi  Am  1BU1 
9UI  P90UTAUOD  stqi  puB  4p9NOOT  iou  inq 
P9SOIO  SB^Vi  }T  UOOP  }UOJJ  9qi  p97Jl  X,  „ 

-y[JOJA  Am  u|  pgqjosq-e  sbay 

I   ©liqAl   A9UOUI   ©ir}   U93fB}   pUB   UI  paddlTS 

pBq  ©U09UIOS  ^q^  puiui  Am  dn  epra  i 

'}j  Suipup;  ;ou 

;nq  aooy  9qj  uo  prre  J9a\bjo  9q;  ui  P9Moot 
I  -9Ui  pau9^qj3jaj  90U9sqB^s;i  *9jbs  9q; 
ui  ;i  *nd  SuiABq  U9^^oSjoj  A\3^i<lmoo  pvu 

I  -X9UOIH  9q^  JOJ  31S9P  9q}  UO  P93{OOI  U9q;  T 

•;qSu  sSupooj  9q^  ;9S  p^noo  i  9J0j9q  9uin  .r 

9UI0S  SBM.  31  PTFB  'B9T1MHJ  ftmn  «e  1^9  -r  \  # 


Big  Herd  of  Buffalo 

Is  Placed  on  MarKet 

j    GETTYSBURG,    S.    D.,    Jan.    22.  —The 
I  Phillip  herd'  of  buffalo,   kept  in  a  l'J,- 
000  acre  pasture  near   Port  Pierre,  S. 
I  D.,  has  been  placed  on  the  market  by 
'  Phillip  Phillip  and  George  Phillip,  ad- 
ministrators   of    the    estate    of  their 
father,    James    Phillip.     This   herd  of 
buffalo,  the  largest  in  the  United  States, 
now  includes  70  yearlings,  55  two-year- 
olds  and  275  older. 

BUFFALO  HERDS 

"There  are,  all  told^not  more  than 
1500  buffalo  remaining  in  the  United 
States  and  Canada,"  said  Mr.  J  C 
Jones,  of  Grand  Canyon,  Arizona.  '  Mr" 
Jones  has  for  years  borne  the  sobri- 
quet of  "Buffalo"  Jones  because  of  his 
efforts  to  perpetuate  the  bison  breed 
He  is  also  distinguished  for  his  suc- 
cessful   experiments    in    crossing  the 


ilDAY,  JANUARY  22,  192S 


buffalo  with  the  domestic  cattle,  pro- 
ducing a  hybrid  animal  to  which  he 
has  given  the  name  of  "catalo."  "The 
largest  herd  of  buffalo  remaining"  he 

s^id*  "is™owned  hy  the  Flathead  In- 
lians  of  Montana — about  400.  The  sec- 
ond largest  is  the  Austin  Corbin  estate 
in  New  Hampshire.  Next  comes  the 
herd  of  Scotty  Phillips  in  North  Da- 
kota and  there  is  also  a  fair  herd  on 
the  big  ranch  of  Mr,  Goodnight  in  the 
Texas  Panhandle.  The  catalo?  a  cross' 
between  the  bison  and  the  common 
cattle  is  an  animal  that  has  the  traits 
of  both  progenitors^-not  so  wild  and 
»a^nH°  ™ana^e  as  the  buffalo  and  yet 
a  good  lot  shyer  than  its  dam  "  Y 


i 


BUFFALOES  ARE 
CROSSED  WITH 
TAME  CATTLE 


Arctic  explorers  have  been  em- 
phasizing for  years  that  there  is 
wealth  in  raising  animals  in  the 
great  northlands. 

Now  comes  word  that  the  Cana- 
dian government  has  appreciated 
the  possibilities  of  its  vast  north- 
ern territories  as  stock  lands  and 
in  Buffalo  Park  at  Wainwright,  Al- 
berta, is  carrying  on  a  daring  ex- 
periment of  crossing  the  American 
bison  or  buffalo  with  domestic 
cattle.  The  result  of  the  cross  is 
a  valuable  new  breed  of  hardy 
cattle  called  the  "cattalo,"  that 
will  range  wild  in  the  north,  says 
"Popular  Science  Monthly." 

Feeding  themselves,  great  herds 
of  cattaloes,  it  is  expected,  will  in- 
crease at  no  expense,  as  long  as 
the  northern  plains  remain  un- 
settled, repeating  the  history  of 
our  own  prairie  buffalo.  It  is  too 
cold  in  the  north  for  the  ordinary 
domestic  cattle  unless ..sh pit pvSffTti 


OSTCf 
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mAO  s 


d  ONIHSV1S 

OH3AO 

OH3AO 
H  0S'6S$ 

)' 

IVS  AHVSH3AIMWY 
V  SJ  dXdl[l  'S90UJ  a/Dj 
83i)iun}.ioddo  SuiA-BS-Xa 


twitrf  IS  NO  DANGER  that  the  buffalo  will  disappear  from  the 
I  American  continent.  There  are  many  of  them  in  government  reserva- 
S>. "hi  this  country,  and  Canada  has  set  aside  ten  thousand  acres  f or 
^  Zffalo  preserve  Two  thousand  of  the  animals  in  the  Wainwright 
L?k!n  Alberta  Ire  to  be  slaughtered  this  year  and  the  meat  and  hides 
onETin  the  markets  of  the  United  States  and  Canada.  "Overpopulation 
S?  i  wri^as  made  it  necessary  to  reduce  the  number  of  animals," 
°avs  the  offlSa  announcement.  Grazing  capacity  of  Wainwright  park 
•  cAnr ,  Lffain  There  are  8000  animals  on  the  range  now  m  spite  of  the 
Sot  that  2000  young  bison  were  shipped  north  to  the  wild  buffalo 
fact  that  zuuu  J°"u°  .  j  st  Spring.  Surplus  animals  cannot  be 
preserve  on  the  Slave  nver^ast  W*S         p  f  ^  ^  ^ 

^hT,  irk  taTmade  "  impossible  to  obtain  additional  grazing 
arTd  The  animal  wm  be  sold  on  the  hoof  at  the  park  like  cattle  and 
space.   The  animais  wiu  ue  buffalo  hunt  or  general 

shipped  to  Packing  }™»^:    A£Xlo  in  Wainwright  park  is  one  of  the 

had  roamed  the  plains  5«fo^eloUfh°lf.breed  Indian  of  Montana.  The 
^o?e«^«tb5SM,Sr«id  turned  them   loose   on  the 


preserve. 


HTLL8. 


\       » * 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2014 


https://archive.org/details/buffalojonesfortOOjone_0 


Buffalo  Jones* 
Forty  Tears  of  Adventure 


VOLUME    OP    FACTS    GATHERED   FROM    EXPERIENCE,    BY    HON.  O. 
JONES,  WHOSE  EVENTFUL  LIFE  HAS  BEEN  DEVOTED  TO  THE  PRES- 
ERVATION   OF   THE   AMERICAN  BISON  AND    OTHER  WILD 
ANIMALS  ;    WHO  SURVIVED  THE  PERILS  OF  THE 
FROZEN  NORTH,  THE  LAND  OF  THE  MID- 
NIGHT   SUN,    AMONG    ESKIMOS,  IN- 
DIANS, AND  THE  FEROCIOUS 
BEASTS  OF  NORTH 
AMERICA 


COMPILED  BY 


Colonel  Henry  Inman 


Crane  &  Company,  Publishers 
Topeka,  Kansas 
1899 


Copyright  1899,  by  Crane  &  Co. 


CONTENTS 

Introduction  


PAGE 

.  xi 


CHAPTER  I 

Millions  of  Buffalo  —  Their  Haunts  —  So  Numerous  People 
Neglected  to  Study  their  Habits  and  Value  —  Killed  for  their 
Hides  Only  —  Coronado  Gave  First  Historical  Account  of  the 
Buffalo  and  the  Great  West,  in  1542  —  Jones's  First  Buffalo  — 
Horses  Stampeded — "Rained  Hail  as  Large  as  Oranges" — 
Buffalo  made  for  Blizzards,  Siroccos,  and  all  kinds  of  Weather 

—  Struggling  for  Mastership  of  Herd— Buffalo-Bull  Fight ...  1 

CHAPTER  II 

BUFFALO  JONES 

Early  Days  in  Illinois — A  Live  Deer  Tied  to  Horse's  Tail — A 
Perilous  Adventure — Abraham  Lincoln  Pleads  his  Father's 
Cause  for  $10  —  School-Days  Very  Few — Capturing  and  Sell- 
ing a  Squirrel  Fixes  his  Ruling  Passion — A  Small  Menagerie 

—  Could  Conquer  any  Animal — Asleep  in  the  Field  at  Mid- 
night—  Rescued  by  Searching  Party — At  College — Bound  for 
the  Wild  West   14 

CHAPTER  III 

"westward  ho  ! " 

Journey  to  the  Frontier  in  a  Prairie  Schooner  —  Mrs.  Jones's 
Introduction  to  Camp  Life  —  Plenty  of  Wolves  —  Team  Es- 
capes on  the  Journey  —  Recapturing — Joyous  Meeting   30 

CHAPTER  IV 

DESPERADOES 

Buffalo  Jones  as  a  Farmer — Abandons  Farming  to  Shoot  Buf- 
falo—  Fails  to  Shoot  Any  —  Mysterious  Mirage  —  Buffalo 
Seemingly  Running  High  in  the  Air — Desperadoes  in  Camp 
—"I  am  Going  to  Kill  You  Right  Here!" — Rescued  by  a 
Plucky  Boy   37 

(iii) 


IV 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  FIRST  nUNT  FOR  CALVES 

Buffalo  iii  Nature's  Pasture — Why  Not  Corral  Them  There  ?  — 
Resolved  to  Try  at  Last  Moment  —  The  Start  —  Encounter 
the  Old  Bulls — Night  Search  for  Water  —  Companion  Extin- 
guishes Beacon -Fire  —  Feared  the  Indians  —  Grandeur  of 
Sunrise  on  the  Plains  —  Discovers  a  Herd — "  Rescuing  the 
Perishing" — Horse  Tied  to  Calf,  and  Its  Mother  After  the 
Horse — A  Lucky  Shot — A  Day  of  Narrow  Escapes  —  Captures 
Four  Calves — Famishing  for  Water — Penetrates  Llano  Esta- 
cado  —  Letting  a  Companion  Down  a  Bluff  for  Water — Rope 
Slips  —  Sun  "  Goes  Down  on  his  Wrath"  —  Last  Herd  Lo- 
cated— Fourteen  Calves  Captured  —  Sheds  Garments  to  Pro- 
tect Calves  from  Wolves — White  Buffalo  


CHAPTER  VI 

INDIANS 

Dangers  of  the  Plains  —  Tenderfoot  Stood  Little  Show  Against 
Indians  —  Only  One  Way  to  Fight  Them  —  Battle  with  Ar- 
rapahoes  —  Gave  Them  a  Surprise  —  Buffalo-Hunters,  and  Not 
Soldiers,  Conquered  the  Indians — Nearly  Caught  while  Skin- 
ning a  Buffalo — The  "  Greatest  Show  on  Earth" — Two  Hun- 
dred Warriors  Surround  a  Herd  of  Buffalo  —  Signaling  at 
Long  Distance  


CHAPTER  VII 

PRAIRIE  FIRES 

Reminder  of  Wrorld's  Destruction  —  Daylight  Turned  to  Dark- 
ness—  People  Driven  Into  Cellars,  and  Breathe  Through 
Towels  and  Handkerchiefs  —  Wild  Animals  Flee  for  Their 
Lives — Like  the  Roar  of  a  Cyclone  —  To  the  Rescue  —  How  to 
Escape — Many  Wild  Animals  Perish 


CHAPTER  VIII 

SECOND  HUNT  FOR  OALVES 

Everybody  Wanted  to  Go,  but  Couldn't,  except  Two  Persist- 
ent Strangers,  who  Drove  Into  an  Irrigation  Ditch,  where 
Horse  Balked — Wanted  Jones  to  Kill  Him  —  Arriving  at 
''Robbers'  Roost" — Wild-Horse  Hunter  Very  Much  Bewil- 
dered— ''Buffalo,  by  Jupiter!  " — Everything  Done  in  a  Min- 


CONTENTS 


V 


ute  —  Colonel  Jones  and  Mr.  Carter  Dash  After  the  Herd  — 
Secure  Three  Calves  —  Cow  Fights  to  the  Death  —  Searching 
for  Water  in  the  Darkness  Ill 

CHAPTER  IX 

second  calf  hunt  (concluded ) 

Milking  a  Buffalo  Cow  —  Excellent  Butter — A  Long  March  — 
Calf  Captured  by  Horse  Throwing  Eider  on  its  Neck — Stran- 
gers After  a  Bull  — Took  Both  to  Kill  It,  and  then  Didn't 
Get  Him— "  The  Herd!  The  Herd  !  "—Colonel  Jones  Never 
Lost  —  Buffalo  Right  in  Camp — "  Get  Down  and  Crawl!" — 
Holes  Cut  in  the  Colonel's  Tent  to  Shoot  Through  —  Horses 
Left  to  Die  —  Plenty  of  Calves,  but  no  Water — Strangers 
Wanted  Another  Trial,  then  Another  140 

CHAPTER  X 

WILD  HORSES  —  OTHER  ANIMALS 

Origin,  Habitat,  Greatest  Number,  Size,  Color,  Style,  and  Sur- 
roundings—  Stallion  Never  Leads,  but  Drives  the  Herd  — 
Contest  for  Mastership  —  Colonel  Jones  Always  Found  Water 
by  Following  Them  —  Speed  and  Endurance  —  Prairie-Dogs, 
Owls,  and  Rattlesnakes — "  Happy  Family"  Theory  not  True  — 
Held  at  Bay  by  a  Monstrous  Rattler  167 

CHAPTER  XI 

SUCCESSFUL  CALF  HUNT 

Extravagant  Preparations  —  Took  Domestic  Cows  to  the  Range 
—  Competition  Quelled  —  Competitor's  Handsome  Reward  — 
Sunday  in  Camp  —  Herd  Discovered — "Hurrah,  Boys,  Sunday 
or  no  Sunday!" — Capture  Eleven  Calves  in  Short  Time  — 
Pathetic  Poem  —  Shooting  Without  a  Sight — Wolves  Devour 
Calves — Wonderful  Success  —  Long  Journey  for  More  Cows  — 
Taken  for  Cattle-Thieves —  Colonel  Jones  Secures  Milch  Cows 
at  Fabulous  Prices  —  Irishman  Sorry  He  Didn't  Ask  More  — 
The  Typical  Cowboy  and  Ranchman  181 

CHAPTER  XII 

THE  ANTELOPE 

The  Shyest  and  Fleetest  of  all  Animals  — "  A  Mighty  Good 
Greyhound  to  Catch  a  Mighty  Poor  Antelope  " — Whole  City 
on  a  Hunt,  Dogs  Included  —  Colonel  Jones  Kills  More  than 
All  194 


vi 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  LAST  HUNT 

On  the  Desert  —  Sends  News  by  Carrier-Pigeons  —  Buffalo  Dis- 
covered— Effort  to  Corral  the  Herd  —  Three  Calves  Quickly 
Captured — The  Mother's  Desperate  Charge  —  Caught  in  a 
Deluge  —  Hard  Eide  for  a  Calf — Roping  full-grown  Buffalo  — 
Awaiting  the  Last  Opportunity  —  Forty-two  Days  and  Nights 
in  Pursuit  of  Last  Herd  —  Colonel  Jones's  Wonderful  Success 
Recorded  in  History  201 

CHAPTER  XIV 

BUFFALO  ON  THE  WATER 

Colonel  Jones  Bound  for  the  Old  World  —  Loading  Buffalo  on 
an  Ocean  Steamer — Big  Show  without  an  Audience  —  Sea- 
sick Animals —  Sensation  in  Liverpool  —  Congratulations  from 
Prince  of  Wales — Accepts  from  Colonel  Jones,  Robe  made  of 
Buffalo  Fur   .225 


CHAPTER  XY 

LAST  OF  THE  BUFFALO 

Buffalo  not  of  One  Family  —  Organization  of  a  Herd  —  How 
Herd  was  Located  —  Stampede  Equal  to  a  Cyclone  —  The 
Cause  and  Result — Only  Method  of  Escape  —  Colonel  Jones 
Captures  Canada's  Last  Herd — After  Moose  —  Catalo,  the 
New  Race  of  Cattle  —  Description  and  Habits  —  Need  no 
Artificial  Food  or  Shelter — Robes  as  Handsome  as  Beaver.  .230 


CHAPTER  XVI 

DOMESTICATED  BUFFALO 

Habits  as  Compared  with  the  Wild  Buffalo  —  Propagation  — 
Takes  Nerve  to  Conquer  —  Corrals  of  Wire  —  Buffalo  Kills  his 
Captor  —  "John  L.  Sullivan,"  which  Never  Met  his  "Oor- 
bett" — Training  Buffalo  to  Work,  no  Boy's  Play — Lines  Held 
with  a  Windlass  —  Government  Responsible  for  Extermina- 
tion of  Buffalo — Colonel  Jones's  Proposition  to  Corral  the 
Last  Herd  —  Warned  the  Government  of  Danger — Number 
Existing  at  Different  Periods  —  Unwritten  Code  of  Hunters  — 
Why  Trails  are  Crooked  — How  to  Kill  a  Whole  Herd  246 


CONTENTS 


vii 


CHAPTER  XYII 

ONE  OF  THE  GREATEST  RACES  OX  RECORD 

Opening  of  the  Cherokee  Outlet  —  Oklahoma,  "  the  Beautiful 
Land" — Horses  and  Riders  Trampled  Beneath  a  Living  Av- 
alanche—  Genuine  "Jehu"  and  Red-Headed  Darling  in  the 
Race  —  The  Most  Reckless  Equestrienne  in  the  World  —  Facts 
Never  Before  Made  Known  —  Colonel  Jones  Rode  Two  Horses, 
and  Won  the  Race  266 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

Buffalo  jones's  arctic  expedition 

Bound  for  the  Arctic  Regions  after  Musk-Oxen  and  Other  Ani- 
mals—  Route  Through  Canada  —  White  Girl  Held  in  Cap- 
tivity by  Indians  —  Leaves  Civilization  —  Alone  in  a  Boat 
Down  the  Athabaska  River  —  Indians  Oppose  his  Mission  — 
Boat  Capsized  and  Indians  Refuse  his  Life-Line  —  Hot  Day 
in  the  Far  North  —  Crossing  Athabaska  Lake  —  On  the  Peace 
and  Slave  Rivers  —  Big  Chiefs  Hold  a  Council  to  Prevent  his 
Progress  .  277 


CHAPTER  XIX 

BOUND  NORTHWARD 

Ordered  to  Return  by  Indians  —  Reaches  Great  Slave  Lake  — 
Tossed  at  Midnight  by  an  Angry  Tempest  —  Reaches  Ruins  of 
Searching  Party  —  Fort  Reliance  —  Treachery  of  Big  Indian 
Siena  302 

CHAPTER  XX 

IN  WINTER  QUARTERS 

Indian's  Wife  of  Less  Value  than  a  Dog — Mercury  at  Zero 
October  10  —  J.  R.  Rea,  a  Hero  of  Heroes  —  Desperation  of 
Indians  —  Deaf  and  Dumb  Girl's  Sufferings  —  Children  Fright- 
ened at  White  Man — "Hoppy  Shompooly "  (Sweet  Salt), 
White  Sugar  —  Indians  take  Provisions  by  Force — Apply  the 
Torch  to  Colonel  Jones's  Cabin  —  Shoots  his  First  Reindeer  — 
Indians  Starving  —  Conjure  Caribou's  Return  —  When  they 
did  Come,  Colonel  Jones  Killed  More  than  the  Whole  Tribe 
—  They  Claimed  but  did  not  Get  Them  320 


viii 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTEE  XXI 

AFTER  MUSK-OXEN 

Arranging  a  Musk-Ox  Hunt  —  Mr.  Rea  Makes  a  Long  Journey 
with  Indians  —  Caught  in  a  Terrific  Blizzard  —  Greatest 
Waterfalls  of  the  Far  North  —  Second  Niagara  —  Reindeer 
Everywhere — Driving  Them  Into  a  Corral  —  Indians  Deter- 
mined to  Stay  and  Eat  White  Man's  Meat  — Could  Not  Drive 
Them  Away  334 

CHAPTER  XXII 

DESPERATION  IN  ARCTIC  REGIONS 

Indians  Left  Squaw  and  Child  to  Perish  —  The  Scanty  Supply 
Divided  with  Them — Drove  Them  Out  when  Mercury  was  at 
Forty-eight  Below  Zero  —  Little  Ellen  Covered  with  Icicles  — 
Squaw  Cut  her  Foot  as  an  Excuse  to  Remain  —  Colonel 
Jones's  Long  Journey  in  Midwinter  —  Clothes  Frozen  Stiff  — 
Failed  to  Find  Indian  Village  —  Frightened  Indians  to  Save 
Supplies  —  Reindeer  Appear  at  Last  Moment  —  Indian  Fright- 
ened Them  Away—"  Too  Mad  to  Swear"  347 

CHAPTER  XXIII 

MUSK-OX  HUNT 

Start  for  the  Far  North  on  Dog-Sleds  —  Crossing  Mountains  — 
On  Artillery  Lake  —  Terrific  Blizzard  —  In  Blankets  Thirty- 
six  Hours,  Facing  Wind  at  Forty  Degrees  Below  Zero  —  On 
Clinton  Golden  Lake  —  Camped  in  "  Land  of  Little  Sticks" — 
Dog  Carried  off  by  Wolves  —  Colonel  Jones's  Narrow  Escape 
—  Discover  New  Rivers  and  Lakes  —  Musk-Oxen  at  Last  — 
Kill  Six  —  Description  —  Indian  Superstition  —  Cross  Great 
Fish  River  and  Arctic  Circle  —  Out  of  Wood,  and  Compelled 
to  Return  —  Guide  Badly  Lost  —  Depended  on  the  Colonel's 
Compass — Arrive  at  "  Little  Sticks" — Guide  Abandons  the 
Two  Nimrods  — They  Again  Penetrate  to  the  Far  North  364 

CHAPTER  XXIV 

HEROIC  EFFORT  BRINGS  REWARD 


Two  White  Men  on  the  Barren  Lands  Without  a  Guide  —  Keep 
Going  Until  Near  the  Magnetic  Pole  — Young  Musk-Oxen 


CONTENTS 


IX 


Discovered  —  Old  Ones  Shot  and  Calves  Lassoed — A  "Wild 
West  Show"  in  the  Arctic  Zone  —  Shepherd  Dog  Devoured  by 
Wolves — Night  Made  Hideous  —  Start  for  Home — Destruc- 
tion by  Wolves  Appears  Imminent  —  Fighting  Wolves  by 
Night  and  Traveling  by  Day  —  Indians  or  Eskimos  Cut  the 
Throats  of  the  Musk-Ox  Calves  while  Captors  Sleep — Am- 
munition Gone,  therefore  Compelled  to  Eeturn  —  Colonel 
Jones  Fires  the  Last  Cartridge  and  Hits  the  Mark — Saved 
from  Starvation  —  Reaching  Cabin  in  Deplorable  Condition.  .380 

CHAPTER  XXV 

AT  THE  CABIN  HOME 

Dogs  with  Hydrophobia  —  Cuts  Steel  Chain  with  Teeth  —  Mr. 
Rea's  Narrow  Escape  —  In  Summer,  Waiting  for  Summer  — 
How  to  Reach  the  North  Pole — A  Start  for  the  Sunny  South 

—  Fourth  of  July,  but  Still  Frozen  in  the  Ice  —  Living  on 
Bread  Alone  —  Mosquitoes  and  Gnats  in  Swarms — Arrival  at 
Fort  Resolution  —  First  News  of  War  with  Spain  —  Music  in 
the  Far  North — "Sweetest  Ever  Heard" — Colonel  Jones 
Fancied  he  was  in  the  "  Spirit  Land  " — Grand  Reception  396 

CHAPTER  XXVI 

METEOROLOGICAL  PHENOMENA 

"Total  Darkness"  and  "Everlasting  Day" — Extreme  Tem- 
perature of  Each  Month  —  Precipitation  —  Burnt  by  Cold 
Steel  —  Brilliant  Display  of  Aurora  Borealis  —  Mock  Suns  — 
Icje  Upheavals,  etc.,  etc  417 

CHAPTER  XXVII 

INDIANS  AND  ESKIMOS  OF  THE  FAR  NORTH 

Differ  from  Other  Indians  —  Mode  of  Living  in  Land  of  Dark- 
ness— Women  Slaves  —  Meat  and  Fish  the  Only  Diet  of  the 
Natives  —  Marriage  Relation  —  Names  of  Tribes  —  Location 

—  Their  Habits,  Dwellings,  Intelligence,  Superstitions  —  Tra- 
ditional History  — Happiest  People  on  Earth,  but  at  Times 
the  Most  Miserable  —  Education  Ruins  all  Indians  in  that 
Country  who  Attempt  It  423 


X 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  XXYIII 

HOMEWARD  BOUND 

In  a  Storm  on  the  Lake  —  Rudder  Breaks — Waves  Roll  Into 
the  Boat  — Boat  Following  is  Capsized  —  One  Man  Drowned, 
Others  Washed  Ashore  —  Protestant  Mission  on  the  Macken- 
zie River  —  Catholic  Priests  Need  Attention — A  Visit  to  the 
Spot  where  Franklin  Spent  a  Dreary  Winter  on  Great  Bear 
Lake  —  Picture  of  his  Cabin  —  Desolation  —  In  the  Ramparts 
—  Crossed  the  Arctic  Circle  —  Fort  Good  Hope  —  Sail  on  the 
Arctic  Ocean  —  Up  Peel's  and  Rat  Rivers — Hundreds  of 
Gold -Seekers  Caught  in  that  Desolate  Region — Shooting 
Down  the  Cascades  of  the  Pacific  Slope  —  Boat  Smashed  on  a 
Rock  —  Long  Journey  Down  the  Porcupine  —  Fort  Yukon  — 
St.  Michael's  —  Facts  About  Alaska  of  Great  Interest  —  On 
Bering  Sea — Reached  Seattle  —  Grand  Reception  at  the 
Colonel's  Old  Home  —  Everybody  Sang,  "My  Country,  'tis 
of  Thee,"  and  "Home,  Sweet  Home"  437 


INTRODUCTION 


It  is  the  mission  of  this  volume  to  present,  from  a 
carefully  kept  journal,  the  thrilling  incidents,  experi- 
ences and  observations,  together  with  the  results  of  the 
efforts  of  one  who  has  devoted  the  best  years  of  his  life  to 
saving  from  absolute  extinction  one  of  the  once  most  con- 
spicuous, in  point  of  numbers,  of  all  the  large  mammals 
on  the  North-American  continent:  the  bison,  or  buffalo 
as  commonly  designated.  He  has  also  exerted  his  ener- 
gies in  behalf  of  the  preservation  of  other  animals  of 
his  native  country.  The  field  of  his  labors  embraced  all 
of  the  great  territory  extending  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
to  and  including  the  frozen  wilderness  of  the  Arctic 
Circle.  So  remarkable  and  full  of  exciting  personal  ad- 
venture have  been  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Jones  in  the  direc- 
tion indicated,  that  he  has  a  world-wide  reputation,  and 
is  familiarly  known  to  the  people  of  both  North  America 
and  Europe  by  his  well-earned  sobriquet  of  "Buffalo 
Jones." 

His  travels  in  the  remote  regions  of  the  North-Ameri- 
can continent  are  a  chapter  of  hardships,  privations  and 
dangers  which  rarely  fall  to  any  individual  in  modern 
times,  and  show  what  indomitable  courage,  self-possession 

(xi) 


xii 


INTRODUCTION 


and  determination  can  accomplish  under  the  most  ad- 
verse conditions.  At  the  same  time,  "Buffalo"  Jones 
has  been  a  close  observer  of  nature, —  of  all  its  physical 
characteristics.  In  this  volume  he  presents  the  results 
of  his  investigations.  The  reader  will  find  here  many 
things  which  will  be  new  to  him,  and  that  the  book  is  of 
thrilling  interest,  and  is  instructive  as  well. 

Henry  Inman. 


FORTY  YEARS  OF  ADVENTURES 


CHAPTER  I 


millions  of  buffalo  their  haunts  —  so  numerous, 

people  neglected  to  study  their  habits  and  worth  

killed  for  their  hides  only  coronado  gave  first 

historical  account  of  them  and  the  great  west,  in 
1542  —  jones's   first   buffalo  —  Dutchman's  horses 

stampeded  by  coming  too  near  herd  4  i  rained  hail 

as  large  as  oranges  "  !  buffalo  made  for  blizzards, 

siroccos,  and  all  climatic  elements  struggle  for 

mastership  of  the  herd  —  graphic  description  of  a 
buffalo-bull  fight 


A FEW  years  ago, — scarcely  a  quarter  of  a  century, — 
millions  upon  millions  of  American  bison,  or  buf- 
falo as  they  are  generally  though  erroneously 
called,  roamed  over  the  vast  plains  of  the  intra- 
continental  region  of  North  America.  Now,  they  are  so 
reduced  in  number  that  absolutely  the  last  lingering 
spark  of  vitality  is  smouldering  on  the  very  verge  of  ex- 
tinction. If  nothing  had  been  effected  toward  rescuing 
them,  the  buffalo,  like  the  Auk  and  Dodo,  would  soon 
have  been  found  mounted  in  museums  only,  as  mere  speci- 
mens ;  a  silent  monument  to  the  wantonness  and  cupidity 
of  man. 

The  geographical  area  over  which  these  immense  animals 
grazed,  comprised  millions  of  square  miles.    When  the 

(i) 


2 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


railroads  penetrated  this  heretofore  almost  inaccessible 
territory,  transportation  suddenly  became  relatively  cheap ; 
then  there  was  at  once  created  an  unprecedented  demand 
for  the  beautiful  soft  robes  of  the  buffalo,  and  millions 
were  sent  to  Europe  to  be  converted  into  leather.  Almost 
immediately,  too,  the  slaughter  of  the  fated  beasts  achieved 
such  proportions  that  annihilation  was  a  question  of  a 
short  period. 

Thousands,  even  millions,  of  green  hides  appeared  in 
the  markets  of  the  world,  and  tourists,  attracted  by  the 
novelty  attending  the  opening  of  the  continent,  which 
the  press  announced  in  graphic  word-painting,  com- 
menced an  indiscriminate  onslaught  on  the  now  appar- 
ently doomed  animals. 

To  a  relatively  limited  number  of  persons  the  interior 
of  the  country  west  of  the  Missouri  was  well  known.  To 
the  majority  it  was  a  veritable  terra  incognita.  Now,  how- 
ever, there  was  a  phenomenal  inrush,  whose  crowds  began 
to  kill  merely  for  the  sport  it  furnished.  For  miles  along 
the  great  trunk  lines,  then  wending  their  way  across  the 
so-called  "  desert,"  the  carcasses  of  the  huge  beasts  were 
collected  so  thickly  that  one  could  have  walked  hundreds 
of  miles,  on  either  side  of  the  track,  on  their  bleached 
bones. 

To  properly  present  the  slow,  weary,  and  sometimes 
discouraging  steps  which  marked  Colonel  Jones's  career 
in  his  initiatory  attempt  to  preserve  a  nucleus  of  the  un- 
fortunate animals  (which  he  hopes  and  firmly  believes 
will  reestablish  the  bison,  with  all  the  superior  qualities 
of  this  species  of  the  bovine  family),  it  is  necessary,  in 
order  that  the  reader  may  intelligently  appreciate  his 
labors,  to  portray  their  original  haunts,  habits,  value, 
characteristics,  and  the  methods  he  employed  in  captur- 
ing, domesticating,  and  cross-breeding,  as  contained  in 
his  remarkably  interesting  journal. 

It  is  an  indisputable  fact,  that  notwithstanding  the 
bison  had  been  known  to  exist  on  the  Great  Plains  for 


HABITS  AND  WORTH  OF  THE  BUFFALO 


3 


four  centuries,  were  at  one  time  almost  as  numerous  as 
the  "sands  of  the  seashore,"  and  that  a  large  number  of 
people  had  been  in  constant  contact  with  them,  yet  the 
world  is  really  unacquainted  with  them,  even  to  this  day. 
Had  the  American  bison  been  a  rare  species  of  ruminant, 
few  in  number,  confined  to  some  remote  island  or  limited 
geographical  area,  all  that  science  would  have  regarded  as 
necessary  to  know  relating  to  them  would  have  long 
since  been  published.  Biological  societies  would  have 
vied  with  each  other  to  report  what  they  had  discovered ; 
the  text-books  of  our  educational  institutions  would  have 
been  full  of  their  habits,  as  they  are  of  the  African  lion, 
the  camel,  or  the  giraffe.  The  very  fact  that  they  existed 
in  such  appalling  numbers  right  at  home,  as  it  were,  is  the 
reason,  perhaps,  of  their  having  been  regarded  of  such 
little  consequence,  from  a  utilitarian  standpoint  at  least. 

The  savage  of  the  prairies  knew  more  of  their  service- 
ableness,  of  their  priceless  utility,  than  the  solitary  trap- 
per, or  freighter  across  the  great  desert,  who  merely  killed 
an  occasional  one  for  his  meat,  or  to  procure  a  new  robe 
for  his  own  immediate  use. 

The  American  bison  has  been  traced  backward  through 
the  ages  by  scientists,  with  a  certainty,  to  a  period  ante- 
rior by  a  thousand  years  to  the  dawn  of  the  Christian  era. 
It  has  been  known  relatively  well  by  historians,  for  at 
least  eighteen  centuries. 

Mr.  W.  T.  Hornaday,  superintendent  of  the  Taxider- 
mical  Department  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  in  his  report  to  the  Fiftieth  Congress,  sets 
forth  the  claim  that  Cortez,  the  Spanish  conqueror  of 
Mexico,  gave  the  first  historical  account  of  the  American 
bison,  in  the  year  1521.  He  quotes  the  following  extract, 
written  by  De  Soto,  one  of  Cortez'  retainers,  after  he  vis- 
ited the  Zoological  Gardens  of  the  Emperor  of  Mexico, 
Montezuma : 

' '  In  the  second  square  of  the  same  house  were  the  wild 
beasts  which  were  either  presented  to  Montezuma,  or  taken 


4 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


by  his  hunters,  in  strong  cages  of  timber,  ranged  in  good 
order,  and  under  cover :  lions,  tigers,  bears,  and  all  others 
of  the  savage  kind  which  New  Spain  produced;  among 
which  the  greatest  rarity  was  a  Mexican  bull, —  a  wonder- 
ful composition  of  divers  animals.  It  has  crooked  shoul- 
ders, with  a  bunch  on  its  back  like  a  camel.  Its  flanks  dry, 
its  tail  large,  and  its  neck  covered  with  hair  like  a  lion. 
It  is  cloven-footed,  its  head  armed  like  that  of  a  bull, 
wrhich  it  resembles  in  fierceness,  with  no  less  strength  and 
agility." 

The  above  quaint  description  does  not  by  any  means 
give  a  clear,  fair  picture  of  the  American  bison ;  particu- 
larly, the  large  tail  spoken  of  does  not  belong  to  that  ani- 
mal. The  inference  is  that  De  Soto  did  not  see  a  buffalo 
at  all.  If  he  had  really  seen  the  American  bison,  he 
would  have  been  so  enraptured  that  necessarily  he  would 
have  been  obliged  to  transmit  to  posterity  a  more  elabo- 
rate report.  His  description  is  not  accurate.  The  animal 
he  did  see  was  undoubtedly  just  what  he  claimed  it  to  be, 
a  u  Mexican  bull,"  with  great  shaggy  shoulders,  and  ex- 
ceedingly heavy  tail, — which  the  bison  has  not. 

Mr.  Hornaday  quotes  another  Spanish  explorer,  Alvar 
Nunez  Cabega  de  Baca,  as  having  seen  the  American 
bison  in  southern  Texas,  nine  years  after  the  first-men- 
tioned date  (1530).    Cabega  thus  describes  what  he  saw: 

"Cattle  come  as  far  as  this.  I  have  seen  them  three 
times,  and  eaten  of  their  meat.  I  think  they  are  about 
the  size  of  those  in  Spain.  They  have  small  horns,  like 
those  of  Morocco,  and  their  hair  long  and  flocky,  like 
that  of  a  merino.  Some  are  light-brown  (pardillos) ,  and 
others  black.  To  my  judgment,  the  flesh  is  finer  and 
sweeter  than  those  of  this  country. 

"The  Indians  make  blankets  of  those  that  are  not 
fully  grown,  and  of  the  larger  they  make  shoes  and 
buckles.    They  come  as  far  as  the  seacoast  of  Florida,1 

1The  whole  region  watered  by  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  rivers  was  called 
Florida. 


jones's  first  buffalo 


5 


and  in  a  direction  of  more  than  four  hundred  leagues. 
In  the  whole  extent  of  plains  over  which  they  roam  the 
people  who  live  bordering  upon  it  descend  and  kill  them 
for  food ;  and  thus  a  great  many  skins  are  scattered 
throughout  the  country." 

This  last  account  is  not  any  more  satisfactory  in  its 
details  than  that  of  De  Soto's,  especially  where  it  refers 
to  the  size  of  buffalo  being  that  of  Spanish  cattle.  As 
everyone  knows,  Spanish  cattle  are  mere  pigmies  com- 
pared to  buffalo.  Cabega  describes  more  accurately  the 
Texas  cattle  than  the  bison  (which  are  nearer  the  size 
and  colors  of  Spanish  cattle),  so  striking  in  their  pe- 
culiar appearance  to  a  stranger. 

Colonel  Jones  says:  "  The  fact  is,  the  first  herd  of 
buffalo  I  ever  saw,  was  composed  of  about  twenty  old 
bulls.  The  gentleman  who  was  with  me,  Mr.  Shultz, 
first  noticed  them  coming  toward  us,  and  we  secreted 
ourselves  in  a  shallow  buffalo-wallow,  having  to  lie  very 
close  to  the  ground  to  prevent  their  seeing  us.  Mr. 
Shultz  was  an  experienced  hunter,  and  both  of  us  were 
possessed  of  good  guns ;  but  before  the  animals  came 
within  three  hundred  yards  of  where  we  were  lying,  I 
said  to  my  partner  in  a  whisper :  '  Let  us  compromise 
with  the  monsters;  if  they  will  let  us  alone,  we'll  let 
them  go  by.'  Mr.  Shultz  smiled  as  I  trembled;  I  could 
not  have  hit  a  whole  flock  of  barns  two  hundred  feet 
away.  The  buffalo  grazed  along,  coming  so  close  that  at 
every  mouthful  of  grass  they  gathered  I  could  distinctly 
hear  a  puff  from  their  nostrils,  and  their  teeth  grinding 
together.  They  appeared  to  me  hideous  monsters.  They 
resembled  elephants,  and  as  they  moved  toward  us  the 
very  earth  appeared  to  shake.  I  paid  no  more  attention 
to  them ;  they  were  too  near  for  comfort,  and  I  shut  my 
eyes,  scarcely  daring  to  breathe,  when  suddenly,  like  a 
clap  of  thunder,  came  the  report  of  a  gun,  and  I  was 
nearly  paralyzed.    Mr.  Shultz  had  fired  at  the  leader  of 


6 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


the  herd !  His  gun  was  about  as  large  as  a  small  cannon ; 
the  discharge  was  terrific.  When  silence  was  again  re- 
stored, I  discovered  that  at  least  one  buffalo  couldn't 
scare  me  'worth  a  cent.'  " 

No  one  after  seeing  the  majestic  creatures  would  ever 
describe  them  as  "cattle  about  the  size  of  those  in  Spain, 
with  small  horns,  some  brown  and  some  black,"  etc.  Nor 
does  Mr.  Hornaday  so  classify  them,  in  his  exhaustive 
history  of  the  great  ruminant,  comprising  more  than  one 
hundred  and  fifty  pages  of  his  report  to  the  second  session 
of  the  Fiftieth  Congress. 

The  first  authentic  description  of  the  American  bison  of 
the  great  central  plains  of  the  continent,  is  unquestiona- 
bly that  to  be  found  in  the  itinerary  of  Coronado's  wonder- 
ful march  in  search  of  the  "Seven  Cities  of  Cibola," 
during  the  year  1542.  He  was  also  the  first  white  man  to 
tell  us  anything  of  that  vast  region  west  of  the  Missouri 
river,  and  its  resources.  He  was  the  primitive  pioneer  of 
those  early  days  of  exploration;  the  peer  of  the  "Path- 
finder," General  Fremont,  when  time  and  conditions  are 
considered. 

That  Coronado  saw  the  genuine  American  bison,  is  more 
than  confirmed  by  the  graphic  description  he  gives  of 
them.  There  can  be  no  mistake  after  reading  the  record 
from  the  pen  of  the  historian,  Castenada: 

"The  first  time  we  encountered  the  buffalo,  all  our 
horses  took  flight  on  seeing  them,  for  they  are  horrible  to 
the  sight.  They  have  a  broad  and  short  face ;  eyes  two 
palms  from  each  other,  and  projecting  in  such  a  manner 
sidewise  that  they  can  see  a  pursuer.  Their  beard  is  like 
that  of  goats,  and  so  long  that  it  drags  the  ground  when 
they  lower  the  head.  They  have  on  the  anterior  portion 
of  the  body  a  frizzled  hair  like  sheep's  wool;  it  is  very 
fine  upon  the  croup,  and  sleek  like  a  lion's  mane.  Their 
horns  are  very  short  and  thick,  and  can  scarcely  be  seen 
through  the  hair.    They  always  change  their  hair  in  May, 


Dutchman's  horses  stampeded 


7 


and  at  this  season  they  really  resemble  lions.  They  make 
it  drop  more  quickly,  for  they  change  it  as  adders  do  their 
skins ;  they  will  roll  among  the  brushwood  which  they 
find  in  the  ravines. 

£<  Their  tail  is  very  short,  and  terminates  in  a  great  tuft. 
When  they  run  they  carry  it  in  the  air  like  a  scorpion. 
When  quite  young  they  are  tawny,  and  resemble  our 
calves." 

From  the  foregoing  unique  description,  any  intelligent 
person  would  recognize  a  buffalo,  even  if  its  shadow  alone 
were  seen. 

How  it  makes  an  old  plainsman  laugh  to  read  Castena- 
da's  first  line :  "  The  first  time  we  encountered  the  buffalo 
all  our  horses  took  flight  on  seeing  them,  for  they  are 
horrible  to  the  sight."  The  fact  is,  there  is  nothing  so 
repulsive  to  a  "green"  horse  as  a  sight  or  scent  of  a  buf- 
falo. Many  a  man  has  been  left  on  the  open  prairie  by 
the  too  close  proximity  of  a  herd  of  these  animals  to  the 
horse  he  was  riding  or  driving ;  many  horses  have  stam- 
peded, for  the  same  reason,  when  picketed  out  to  graze. 
I  was  once  compelled  to  "  hoof  it  "  for  twenty  miles,  from 
such  an  experience,  and  a  more  delighted  individual  the 
reader  never  heard  of,  when  I  discovered  it  was  only  that 
short  distance  instead  of  a  hundred,  and  that  I  did  not  lose 
my  fine  team  as  well. 

I  remember  at  one  time  meeting  a  poor  German  near 
the  Kansas  and  Colorado  line,  west  of  where  the  flourish- 
ing town  of  Colby  is  now  located,  who  was  in  a  terrible 
predicament.  It  was  in  the  spring  of  1872.  He  was  an 
emigrant  to  the  mountains,  and  was  able  to  speak  only 
very  indifferent  English.  All  his  possessions,  when  I  met 
him,  consisted  of  an  old-fashioned  muzzle-loading  rifle 
and  a  pair  of  nearly  worn-out  shoes,  which  he  carried  in 
his  hand.  The  antiquated  gun  was  as  worthless  a  piece 
for  those  troublesome  days  on  the  border  as  I  had  ever 
seen.  It  might  have  been  one  captured  by  General  Blucher 


8 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


from  the  French  at  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  and  kept  as 
an  heirloom  in  the  family  of  the  disconsolate  fellow  trudg- 
ing along  in  the  wilderness  of  prairie  around  him.  He 
was  more  than  a  hundred  miles  from  any  settlement,  and 
had  in  all  probability  been  wandering  hopelessly  in  a 
circle,  for  two  days  or  more. 

His  first  salutation  was  :  "  Haben  sie  wasser  ?  "  "  Yes, 
plenty,"  I  answered,  at  the  same  time  passing  him  a  can- 
teen which  had  recently  been  filled  from  a  ten-gallon  keg 
that  was  always  kept  strapped  to  the  side  of  the  wagon. 
The  poor  fellow  was  nearly  choked.  After  filling  himself, 
he  caught  his  breath,  and  told  me  as  best  he  could  that 
he  had  lost  two  horses,  asking  if  I  knew  where  they  were  — 
"or  do  you  know  nottings?"  I  grasped  the  situation  at 
once,  and  was  satisfied  he  had  been  too  close  to  a  herd  of 
buffalo.  This  he  confirmed  by  attempting  to  explain  how 
it  happened :  He  was  surprised  by  a  great  number  of  the 
beasts,  and  his  horses,  never  having  seen  such  animals  be- 
fore, naturally  stampeded,  leaving  him  all  alone  on  the 
prairie,  remote  from  any  assistance.  He  was  a  piteous- 
looking  object,  indeed.  He  had  given  up  all  hope ;  had 
become  despondent,  and  if  I  had  not  fortunately  met  him 
at  this  particular  juncture,  he  would  in  all  probability 
have  gone  insane,  and  the  wolves  battened  on  his  bones 
before  sundown  of  the  following  day. 

I  had  passed  a  hunting-party  about  fifteen  miles  back, 
some  of  whom  I  knew ;  they  had  incidentally  mentioned 
to  me  the  fact  of  having  picked  up  a  team  of  "  plug" 
horses,  which  they  supposed  some  "mover"  to  Colorado 
had  abandoned  to  die,  they  were  so  miserably  thin  and 
weak.  From  the  description  given  me,  and  what  the  Ger- 
man had  attempted  to  convey  in  his  queer  jargon,  I  knew 
the  animals  were  identical.  I  really  felt  sorry  for  the  old 
fellow,  and  assured  him  I  would  recover  his  lost  team, — 
at  which  he  was  nearly  wild.  I  then  said  to  him  and  my 
men,  we  would  go  into  camp  about  six  miles  to  the  south- 
west, near  the  foot  of  a  high  butte  plainly  discernible 


RETURN  OF  THE  HOR8E8 


9 


from  where  we  then  were,  and  dispatch  one  of  my  party 
on  a  broncho  for  his  horses — ( I  always  use  these  ponies 
on  my  hunting  expeditions),  telling  him  to  return  by  sun- 
down the  next  day. 

Promptly  as  the  sun  was  sinking  in  the  western  horizon 
the  following  evening,  my  messenger  returned  with  the 
missing  animals.  They  were  certainly  the  most  " ornery" 
creatures  one  might  see  in  an  age;  just  able  to  stagger 
along.  What  on  earth  could  scare  such  miserable  brutes 
would  have  been  an  indescribable  enigma,  if  it  were  not 
known  what  a  herd  of  buffalo  could  effect  in  that  direc- 
tion. 

When  I  met  the  old  man  he  was  in  a  terrible  condition 
physically :  his  feet  were  so  galled  they  were  absolutely 
raw;  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  wear  his  shoes;  — 
yet  he  was  as  happy  as  if  he  had  discovered  a  gold 
mine,  when  the  jaded  horses  were  turned  over  to  him. 
The  next  morning  he  started  westward  again  on  his 
lonesome  journey,  profuse  in  his  thanks  for  what  I  had 
done. 

I  could  relate  circumstances  of  stampedes,  until  every 
page  of  this  book  would  be  filled,  showing  what  a  sudden 
appearance  of  a  herd  of  buffalo  has  effected  on  the  plains 
with  the  " tenderfoot"  in  hundreds  of  instances.  I  have 
presented  this  one,  merely  to  give  the  reader  an  idea  of 
one  of  the  vexations  which  often  came  to  the  hunter  and 
the  emigrant  on  their  lonely  "trails"  across  the  conti- 
nent, and  to  prove  that  Coronado  gave  us  the  first  intelli- 
gent description  of  the  American  bison. 

To  return  to  the  first  authentic  account  of  the  Ameri- 
can bison.  It  goes  without  saying,  that  Coronado's 
historian  gave  an  unquestionably  accurate  description, 
and  the  intrepid  Spaniard  saw  the  real  thing.  He  not 
only  saw  the  buffalo,  but  so  perfectly  does  he  tell  of  the 
"  great  plains,"  that  "  he  who  runs  may  read." 

From  Hukluyt's  voyages,  Vol.  Ill,  (London,  1600,)  I 


10 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


extract  a  few  paragraphs  concerning  the  subject,  which 
are  indisputable : 

"  From  Cicuye  they  went  to  'Quivira,'  which,  after 
their  recent  account,  is  almost  three  hundred  leagues 
distant,  through  mighty  plains,  and  sandy  heaths,  so 
smooth  and  wearisome,  and  bare  of  wood,  that  they  made 
heaps  of  ox-dung,  for  want  of  stones  and  trees,  that  they 
might  not  lose  themselves  at  their  return ;  for  three 
horses  were  lost  on  that  plain,  and  one  Spaniard  who 
went  from  his  company  hunting. 

4 'All  that  way  of  plains  are  as  full  of  crooked-back 
oxen  as  the  mountain  Serrena  in  Spain  is  full  of  sheep, 
but  there  is  no  such  people  as  keep  those  cattle.  They 
were  a  great  succor  for  the  hungry,  and  want  of  bread, 
which  our  people  stood  in  need  of. 

"One  day  it  rained  in  that  plain  a  great  shower  of 
hail,  as  big  as  oranges,  which  caused  many  tears,  weak- 
ness, and  bowes. 

"These  oxen  are  of  the  bigness  and  color  of  our  bulls, 
but  their  bones  are  not  so  great.  They  have  a  great  bunch 
on  their  fore  shoulder,  and  more  hair  on  their  fore  part 
than  on  their  hinder  part,  and  it  is  like  wool.  They 
have,  as  it  were,  a  horse-mane  upon  their  backbone,  and 
much  hair,  and  very  long,  from  their  knees  downward. 

"  They  have  great  tufts  of  hair  hanging  down  their  fore- 
heads, and  it  seemeth  they  have  beards  because  of  the  great 
store  of  hair  hanging  down  at  their  chins  and  throats. 

"The  males  have  very  large  tails,  and  a  great  knob  or 
flock  at  the  end,  so  that  in  some  respects  they  resemble 
the  lion,  and  in  some  others  the  camel. 

4 1  They  push  with  their  horns ;  they  run ;  they  overtake 
and  kill  an  horse  when  they  are  in  their  rage  and  anger. 

"Finally,  it  is  a  foul  and  fierce  beast  of  countenance 
and  form  of  body. 

"  The  horses  fled  from  them,  either  because  of  their  de- 
formed shape,  or  else  because  they  had  never  before  seen 
them." 


CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  BUFFALO 


11 


Here  we  find  a  most  accurate  description  of  the  buffalo 
(except  the  large  tail).  No  one  who  is  familiar  with  the 
animal  will  contest  that  the  beast  Castenada  writes  of  is 
any  other  than  the  genuine  American  bison. 

This  historian  also  says,  as  to  the  buffalo  increasing 
in  age:  "  They  change  form  and  color."  The  facts  are 
these,  from  my  observations,  and  handling  them  for 
years:  the  young  buffalo,  when  they  reach  their  fifth 
month,  shed  their  tawny  coat,  and  assume  the  natural 
hue  of  the  adult;  that  is,  seal-brown.  The  hump,  which 
is  one  of  the  most  prominent  physical  characteristics, 
does  not  make  its  appearance  until  the  calves  are  two 
to  three  months  old. 

The  ears  of  the  young  buffalo  are  entirely  different 
from  those  of  the  domestic  calf:  they  are  small,  round, 
and  full  of  long  hairs.  The  change  from  a  round  body  to 
a  great  hump  is  very  gradual,  commencing  when  the  ani- 
mal has  attained  about  three  months,  continuing  until  it 
is  from  five  to  seven  years  old,  according  to  sex,  at  which 
time  it  arrives  at  its  full  growth. 

Nature  is  never  more  persistent  in  any  of  its  creations 
than  in  that  of  the  buffalo's  anatomy,  or  in  its  habits  so 
suited  to  its  wild  environment.  A  more  perfect  animal 
for  the  strange  surroundings  of  its  habitat  could  not  have 
been  constructed.  It  is  ever  prepared  for  the  severest 
"  blizzard  "  from  the  far  north,  or  the  hottest  ' £  sirocco  " 
of  the  torrid  zone.  It  is  so  constructed  that  it  always 
faces  every  danger,  whether  it  be  the  pitiless  storm  from 
the  Arctic  regions  or  its  natural  enemy,  the  gray  wolf  of 
the  desert.  This  ghoul  of  the  prairie  never  is  permitted 
to  approach  its  victim  from  the  rear  excepting  when  over- 
powered by  great  numbers  ;  then  they  are  "  hamstrung  " 
and  rendered  helpless.  The  young  bull,  also,  who  contends 
for  the  mastery  of  the  herd,  always  faces  his  competitors. 

A  more  startling  sight  cannot  be  imagined  than  that  of 
two  shaggy  monsters  contending  for  the  supremacy.  With 
muzzles  lowered,  pawing  the  earth  with  their  great  hoofs, 


12 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


raising  clouds  of  impalpable  dust  from  the  hard  dry  sod, 
over  which  millions  of  their  compeers  have  trodden  for 
centuries,  they  cautiously  circle  around  each  other,  meas- 
uring every  possible  vantage.  Their  great  heads,  matted 
with  "  bull-nettles  "  and  ' '  sand-burs"  until  twice  their 
normal  size,  are  alternately  tossed  high  in  the  air,  then  as 
quickly  lowered  until  their  noses  come  within  an  inch  of 
the  ground.  These  are  the  preliminary  tactics  that  gauge 
the  battle,  like  the  knights  of  old  when  they  threw  their 
gauntlets  of  steel  into  the  arena.  Their  short,  tufted  tails 
are  swollen  as  a  cat's  when  in  the  ecstacy  of  its  rage ;  their 
backs  curved  up  like  the  same  pugnacious  animal,  and 
their  hair  bristling  with  the  desire  for  battle.  Now,  when 
near  enough  to  each  other,  comes  the  supreme  moment  for 
which  they  have  been  waiting !  Their  eyes  appear  to  send 
forth  livid  rays,  like  that  emanating  from  an  electric  dy- 
namo, as  they  charge  upon  each  other  with  the  rush  of  a 
tornado  at  the  height  of  its  fury.  Their  short  horns  lock 
with  a  rattle  which  sounds  like  the  firing  of  a  battalion, 
directly  over  where  they  stand  in  their  mighty  struggle. 
The  spectator  is  apparently  almost  paralyzed  by  the  dis- 
play of  energy  and  exertion  of  muscle  displayed  by  the 
huge  beasts,  as  he  breathlessly  waits  for  a  lull  in  the 
terrible  conflict  which  has  completely  entranced  him. 

For  a  moment  one  of  the  combatants  has  secured  an 
advantage  over  his  adversary:  he  raises  the  whole  front 
portion  of  his  heavy  antagonist  clear  from  the  ground  on 
his  horns  in  a  maddened  exhibition  of  strength;  but 
soon,  perhaps,  he  falls  beneath  his  living  load; — he  has 
lost  his  advantage !  Instantly  his  opponent  profits  by 
the  misfortune,  and  pins  him,  who  was  almost  the  victor 
a  moment  before,  by  the  neck  to  the  earth.  Then  it  is 
that  the  spectator  of  the  intensely  interesting  combat, 
inspired  by  the  sympathy  which  ever  goes  out  to  the  weak 
against  the  mighty,  is  seized  with  an  almost  uncontrol- 
lable desire  to  separate  the  ferocious  brutes.  If  he  is  an 
old  plainsman,  however,  he  knows  that  his  own  life  would 


A  BUFFALO-BULL  FIGHT 


13 


not  be  safe  for  a  moment  if  he  attempted  it;  besides,  the 
monsters  will  take  care  of  themselves ;  they  are  consti- 
tuted for  just  such  ferocious  combats,  death  rarely  com- 
ing to  either  combatant  in  these  conflicts,  unless  in  a 
close  inclosure. 

The  fight  always  continues  until  one  of  the  contestors 
is  conquered.  Even  then  the  vanquished  animal  keeps 
his  face  to  the  victor,  moving  backward  until  an  oppor- 
tunity offers  itself  for  him  to  skulk  into  seclusion,  or  out 
of  sight  of  his  now  acknowledged  master.  Should  they 
be  closely  corralled,  death  is  sure  to  be  the  portion  of  the 
one  conquered,  as  the  bison  is  relentless,  showing  no 
mercy  to  his  enemy  in  any  instance. 

The  skin  of  a  full-grown  buffalo's  head  and  neck  is  an 
inch  in  thickness.  It  cannot  be  penetrated  by  a  ball 
from  an  ordinary  pistol  or  an  old-fashioned  rifle,  much 
less  by  the  horn  of  a  competitor ;  in  fact  it  requires  the 
best  modern  weapon  to  make  an  impression  upon  such  a 
mass  of  indurated  hide.  The  muscle  of  the  buffalo  has  a 
wonderful  adaptation  to  the  requirements  of  the  huge 
brute;  the  nostrils  are  immense,  seemingly  able  to  draw 
in  a  supply  of  air  to  last  for  a  long  period ;  the  lungs  are 
comparably  large  to  retain  it.  Their  horns  are  set  at  the 
very  best  angle  to  be  most  effective  in  the  awful  battle 
which  invariably  falls  to  their  portion  at  some  time  in 
their  lives.  I  very  much  doubt  if  the  lion  is  the  "king 
of  beasts,"  or  could  hold  his  own  in  an  engagement  with 
an  enraged  buffalo  bull. 


CHAPTER  II 


BUFFALO  JONES 

EARLY    DAYS     IN    ILLINOIS  HIS    PARENTS'    PERILOUS  AD- 
VENTURE   WITH    A   WOUNDED    DEER  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

PLEADS    HIS    FATHER'S    CAUSE    FOR    $10    SCHOOL-DAYS 

FEW  AND  FAR  BETWEEN  THE   CAPTURING  AND  SELLING 

A  SQUIRREL  FIXES  HIS  RULING  PASSION  POSSESSOR  OF  A 

SMALL   MENAGERIE  NO  ANIMAL   TOO  OBSTREPEROUS  FOR 

HIM  TO  CONQUER  SLEEPING  AT  NIGHT  IN  THE  FIELDS  

NEIGHBORS  AROUSED  INTO  SEARCHING  PARTIES  AN  EF- 
FORT AT  COLLEGE  BOUND  FOR   "  BLEEDING    KANSAS  ' '  

SETTLING  DOWN  AS  A  ' 1  FAMILY  MAN  " 


CHARLES  JESSE  JONES,  more  familiarly  known 
as  "  Buffalo  Jones,"  (Colonel  Jones,  as  he  is  by 
courtesy  sometimes  called,)  was  born  in  Tazewell 
county,  111.,  in  1844.  His  grandfather,  Charles, 
for  whom  the  grandson  is  named,  was  one  of  the  pioneers 
of  that  State,  having  emigrated  from  Scituate,  Massachu- 
setts, in  1826,  eight  years  after  the  admission  of  Illinois 
into  the  Union.  "Buffalo  Jones's"  grandmother  was  a 
Nichols,  one  of  the  most  celebrated  families  of  Boston. 

Noah  Nichols  Jones,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  a  mere  boy  when  he  accompanied  his  parents  to 
the  bleak  primitive  prairies  of  Illinois.  He  married  Miss 
Jane  Munden,  whose  family  were  of  the  God-fearing,  ster- 
ling old-fashioned  Virginia  Quakers,  and  from  this  stock 
"  Buff  alo  Jones  "  inherits  some  unmistakable  traits  which 
occasionally  crop  out  in  his  nature. 


EARLY  DAYS   IN  ILLINOIS 


15 


His  father  was  very  early  thrown  upon  the  cold  world 
to  struggle  for  himself ,  dependent  entirely  upon  his  own 
resources  for  his  support.  He  was  a  man  of  great  deter- 
mination ;  possessing  a  strong  will ;  full  of  energy,  which 
balked  at  nothing  that  was  possible  for  a  man  to  accom- 
plish. These  characteristics  are  very  prominent  in  his 
son,  and  are  the  secret  of  his  success  in  all  the  novel  un- 
dertakings he  has  attempted. 

The  elder  Jones  preempted  a  tract  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  Government  land  in  McLean  county,  Illi- 
nois, which  bordered  a  small  stream  called  Money  creek, 
where  he  settled  down  to  the  active,  hard  work  of  a  pio- 
neer farmer,  in  the  then  "  far  West."  Here,  on  this  raw 
wild  place,  as  "  Buffalo  Jones"  himself  expresses  it,  "I 
went  through  the  '  sweat-box.'  I  was  the  second  son  of  a 
family  of  twelve  children,  and  from  the  time  I  was  strong 
enough  to  pick  up  a  basket  of  chips  at  the  woodpile,  until 
I  had  attained  my  majority,  'Work,  work'  was  the  watch- 
word of  our  home." 

Colonel  Jones  says  that  his  father  was  a  famous  hunter 
in  his  younger  days,  not  only  because  of  a  love  for  the 
exciting  sport,  but  from  necessity  as  well ;  for  in  the  wild 
condition  of  that  region,  "  varmints,"  as  they  were  pro- 
vincially  called, — deer,  beaver,  otter,  panthers,  wolves,  and 
coons, —  abounded  in  the  forests,  on  the  prairie,  and  in 
the  many  streams.  These  were  the  real  source  of  reve- 
nue, rather  than  the  legitimate  products  of  the  roughly 
worked  farms.  The  skins  of  the  animals  mentioned,  and 
the  flesh  of  the  deer,  particularly,  were  always  in  de- 
mand ;  and  these  were  the  principal  support  of  the  fam- 
ily while,  for  a  few  years,  the  land  was  being  brought 
into  subjection.  Of  the  time  passed  on  the  homestead, 
Colonel  Jones  tells  many  incidents,  which  have  clung  to 
" memory's  walls"  ever  since  his  babyhood.  One  of 
these  I  here  relate  in  his  own  language : 

"  I  was  only  three  years  old,  a  mere  baby  in  tow  frocks. 
We  were  in  the  condition  of  the  man  digging  for  the 


16 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


groundhog,  who  was  to  entertain  the  deacon  of  his  church 
that  day — 'out  of  meat.'  My  father  concluded  that  he 
must  have  some  venison,  so  rose  very  early  that  morn- 
ing,—  one  of  those  sharp,  crisp,  frosty  days  in  January, — 
jumped  on  a  little  pony-built  horse  that  he  used  to  ride 
on  such  expeditions,  and  started  for  a  '  brush-patch  '  about 
a  mile  from  the  house,  which  was  a  favorite  resort  of  the 
deer  at  that  season.  Arriving  at  the  spot,  he  took  a  long 
circuit  around  the  bushes,  and,  to  his  delight,  saw  an 
abundance  of  tracks  in  the  freshly  fallen  snow.  Quietly 
dismounting  and  tying  his  animal  to  a  stout  sapling,  he 
walked  on  through  the  tall  grass  which  covered  the  ground 
outside  the  brush,  when  to  his  surprise  he  saw,  not  over 
a  hundred  yards  from  where  he  had  fastened  his  horse,  a 
large  buck  with  an  immense  set  of  antlers,  lying  in  the 
short  herbage, — the  great  horns,  as  is  frequently  the  case, 
betraying  his  whereabouts. 

"In  an  instant  the  old-fashioned  squirrel  rifle — the 
arm  par  excellence  in  those  early  days  —  was  brought  to 
his  shoulder,  the  flint  fell  with  a  crash,  the  fire  flew  from 
it  as  it  struck  the  pan,  but  the  piece  did  not  go  off. 
Much  to  his  surprise  and  chagrin,  the  buck  never  moved. 
Whether  the  animal  was  asleep  or  endeavoring  to  £  play 
possum,'  could  not  be  determined,  of  course.  The  gun 
was  hastily  inspected  to  find  out  what  was  the  matter,  as 
it  had  seldom  before  proved  false,  when  it  was  discovered 
there  was  no  powder  in  the  pan.  In  order  to  make  this 
intelligent  to  those  readers  who  perhaps  have  never  seen 
a  flint-lock — "a  back  number"  to  this  generation  —  let 
me  explain :  The  4  pan  '  was  a  small  reservoir  at  the  base 
of  where  the  flint  was  intended  to  strike,  and  held  about 
half  a  teaspoonf ul  of  powder ;  the  powder  connected  with 
the  little  tube  which  entered  the  gun-barrel,  and  ignited 
the  charge.  My  father  quickly  seized  the  powder-horn 
swung  over  his  shoulder  by  a  string  of  buckskin,  poured 
into  the  pan  some  of  its  contents,  raised  the  weapon 
again,  took  an  indifferent  aim,  as  the  buck's  outline  was 


PERILOUS  ADVENTURE  WITH  A  WOUNDED  DEER  17 

only  very  dimly  observable,  so  closely  did  he  hug  the 
ground,  and  fired.  The  old  flint-lock  quickly  responded 
this  time,  but  the  deer  did  not  stir.  Father  walked  up  to 
the  beast,  kicked  it,  and  still  it  gave  no  signs  of  life.  He 
saw  at  a  glance  that  the  ball  had  struck  the  animal  in 
the  neck,  and  felt  in  his  pocket  for  the  hunting-knife  he 
usually  carried,  but,  much  to  his  regret,  found  he  had  left 
it  at  the  house.  His  next  dilemma  was  how  to  get  the 
deer  home.  He  was  not  long  in  deciding  that  matter. 
Taking  the  rope  halter  from  his  horse's  neck,  he  tied  a 
knot  in  the  horse's  bushy  tail,  fastened  one  end  of  the 
rope  around  the  buck's  horns  and  the  other  above  the 
knot  made  in  the  pony's  tail,  mounted,  and  trotted  off 
briskly,  as  he  had  made  a  bet  with  his  sister-in-law  that 
he  would  be  back  with  a  deer  before  she  could  bake  the 
biscuit,  which  in  those  days  were  cooked  in  one  of  the 
old-fashioned  '  Dutch  ovens' ;  (such  things  as  stoves  were 
not  known  in  that  part  of  the  country.) 

"  He  was  in  a  fair  way  of  winning  his  wager  by  hurry- 
ing along  at  the  best  speed  the  pony  could  make  with  the 
load  he  was  compelled  to  drag  in  such  a  novel  way,  but 
when  he  had  reached  about  half-way,  on  looking  back  he 
saw  to  his  horror  that  the  deer  was  attempting  to  get  on 
his  feet,  but  that,  fortunately,  as  often  as  he  rose  to  his 
knees  the  horse  would  jerk  him  down  again.  The  fact  is, 
that  the  ball  had  only  grazed  the  cervical  vertebrse,  or 
'creased1  him,  as  it  is  called  in  hunting  parlance.  This 
paralyzes  all  the  muscles  temporarily,  and  the  animal  is 
unable  to  exercise  any  power  over  them.  (This  was  one 
of  the  methods  employed  in  capturing  wild  horses  at  one 
time.)  The  friction  caused  by  dragging  him  over  the 
rough  and  snowy  ground  had  partially  restored  the  circu- 
lation, and  he  was  rapidly  getting  into  his  normal  condi- 
tion of  physical  strength. 

"  Realizing  the  predicament  he  was  in,  my  father  ap- 
plied the  whip  to  his  now  equally  scared  horse,  and  the 
latter  fairly  flew  over  the  trail  with  his  double  burden, 
—  2 


18 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


while  the  deer,  continually  gaining  more  and  more  power, 
was  frantic  in  his  endeavors  to  escape  from  his  unique 
position.  The  great  danger  was,  that  the  moment  the 
pony  should  slacken  his  pace  the  buck  would  fight  merci- 
lessly, throwing  his  immense  antlers  in  every  direction, 
probably  impaling  both  horse  and  rider. 

"By  this  time  the  family  at  home  were  all  up,  and 
preparations  for  breakfast  were  rapidly  progressing.  My 
mother  happened  to  look  out  of  a  window,  and  saw  her 
husband  approaching  at  an  unusually  fast  gait.  She 
rushed  to  the  door,  wondering  what  could  be  the  incentive 
for  pounding  his  horse  in  such  a  manner.  Surely,  the  In- 
dians could  not  be  after  him ;  it  was  the  wrong  time  of 
the  year  for  any  of  the  savages  to  be  lurking  in  the  vi- 
cinity. Was  it  a  panther? — one  of  those  ferocious  and 
dreaded  beasts  of  the  settlements  which  created  such  havoc 
among  the  young  stock,  and  occasionally  carried  off  a  stray 
child.  Could  it  be  a  pack  of  hungry  wolves  ?  She  was 
nonplussed  for  a  moment,  but  soon  her  husband's  voice 
came  ringing  clearly  through  the  'opening,'  although  he 
was  still  a  quarter  of  a  mile  distant : 

' ' £  The  butcher-knife  !  The  butcher-knife !  This  deer 's 
alive ! ' 

"  This  appeal,  repeated  several  times  in  such  loud  tones, 
showed  that  he  was  terribly  excited  and  in  danger.  As 
he  drew  nearer,  he  gave  vent  more  vociferously  to  his  need 
of  assistance : 

"  '  The  axe  !    The  axe  !    This  deer 's  alive  !' 

' '  My  mother  was  young  and  very  active  then ;  she  im- 
mediately comprehended  the  situation  my  father  was  in, 
and  having  been  reared  on  the  border,  she,  like  nearly  all  of 
her  hardy  class,  knew  nothing  of  that  fear  which  attaches 
to  those  women  who  have  lived  in  a  pampered  civilization 
in  the  thickly  settled  East. 

' '  Quickly  snatching  the  butcher-knife  from  its  accus- 
tomed place  near  the  mantel-shelf,  she  ran  to  the  gate, 
the  pony  arriving  there  with  his  living  load  at  the  same 


LINCOLN  PLEADS  HIB  FATHER'S  CAUSE 


19 


instant,  dashing  against  the  fence  in  his  excitement. 
Father  received  the  knife  from  her  hand  as  he  rushed  by. 
The  pace  of  the  horse  was  of  course  now  slackened  by- 
coming  in  contact  with  the  pickets,  and  in  a  moment  the 
infuriated  deer  was  on  his  feet.  He  made  a  desperate  at- 
tempt to  break  away  toward  the  timber,  which  nearly 
threw  both  horse  and  rider  to  the  ground.  Fortunately, 
close  to  the  gate  stood  a  heavy  farm  wagon  loaded  with 
wood,  around  which  father  whipped  the  pony,  and  in  so 
doing  jerked  the  deer's  horns  into  one  of  the  hind  wheels, 
and,  his  momentum  thus  suddenly  stopped,  the  animal 
slipped  flat  on  his  side,  all  sprawled  out.  In  an  instant 
mother  (who  was  somewhat  inclined  to  stoutness,  weigh- 
ing nearly  one  hundred  and  sixty  pounds,  and  very 
strong)  was  upon  the  animal,  and  held  him  down  until 
father  jumped  off  his  pony,  came  around,  and  cut  the 
animal's  throat. 

"  Hardly  had  he  accomplished  this  last  act  of  the 
tragedy,  when  a  great  outburst  of  childish  laughter 
greeted  his  ears,  and  upon  looking  up,  he  saw  his  little 
three-year-old  boy  ( myself ) ,  who  had  slipped  out  of  the 
house  unnoticed,  enjoying  one  of  the  most  wonderful 
scenes  it  has  ever  been  his  fortune  to  witness,  even  dur- 
ing his  own  long  and  eventful  career. 

"  My  father  was  of  a  firm  disposition,  and  of  a  small, 
wiry  build.  He  never  hesitated  to  express  his  convic- 
tions, and  was  an  earnest  anti-slavery  advocate.  Once, 
when  Stephen  A.  Douglas  was  a  candidate  for  Congress- 
man-at-large,  father  was  one  of  the  judges  of  election, 
and  became  politically  involved  in  an  altercation  with 
the  acknowledged  pugilist  of  the  neighborhood.  The  fra- 
cas so  terminated  that  he  thought  best  to  go  before  the 
magistrate,  Edward  Burtis,  father  of  A.  H.  Burtis,  now 
a  successful  Kansas  politician.  He  paid  his  fine,  and 
thought  no  more  about  it;  but  the  other  man  felt  ag- 
grieved, and  demanded  a  trial  by  a  jury  of  his  peers,  in 
the  district  court,  which  was  presided  over  by  Judge 


20 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


David  Davis,  afterwards  U.  S.  Senator.  Father  retained 
two  attorneys,  Ashley  Gridley  and  Abraham  Lincoln,  to 
plead  his  cause.  The  fee  agreed  upon  was  ten  dollars 
each.  It  is  needless  to  add  that  it  was  well  tried,  and  a 
verdict  of  acquittal  returned.  The  amount  was  cheer- 
fully paid,  and  ever  afterwards  Mr.  Lincoln  and  my  fa- 
ther were  cordial  friends.  No  one  mourned  the  lamented 
President  more  than  did  Noah  Nicholas  Jones." 

Col.  Jones  attributes  a  great  deal  of  his  inclination  for 
hunting  to  just  such  scenes  as  that  above  mentioned. 
His  brother  John,  two  years  his  junior,  has  many  of  the 
same  traits,  but  is  a  better  marksman,  especially  with  the 
shotgun ;  though  he  has  never  killed  so  many  animals  as 
has  the  Colonel,  not  having  had  the  opportunity. 

Although  of  a  relatively  delicate -looking  physique, 
young  Jones  was  the  very  incarnation  of  activity,  nerve 
and  muscle  during  those  years  passed  on  the  original  old 
homestead  in  Illinois.  He  possessed  the  spirit  of  emula- 
tion to  such  a  degree,  that  he  would  never  permit  anyone 
of  his  age  and  size  to  outdo  him  in  the  labor  assigned  as 
his  task. 

His  early  education  was  very  much  restricted,  for,  as 
among  all  pioneer  civilization  of  the  period  of  his  youth, 
the  " district  school-house"  was  the  conventional  log 
building,  utterly  devoid  of  those  appurtenances  and  edu- 
cational appliances  which  characterize  our  splendid  sys- 
tem of  to-day.  There  was  no  bell,  no  register,  no  maps, 
no  blackboard ;  in  fact,  nothing  that  could  make  the  path 
in  pursuit  of  knowledge  an  easy  one.  The  benches  were 
constructed  of  rude  slabs,  whose  legs  were  rough  sticks 
with  the  bark  on.  These  were  driven  into  auger-holes, 
their  wedged  ends  protruding  an  inch  or  more, —  a  fruitful 
source  of  torn  trousers,  as  anyone  will  remember  who  ever 
sat  upon  such  instruments  of  youthful  torture. 

Young  Jones,  however,  was  not  a  sufferer  to  any  great 
extent,  as  his  privilege  to  attend  school  was  limited  to 


CAPTURING  A  SQUIRREL 


21 


two  or  three  days  in  the  week,  and  only  then  when  the 
weather  was  too  cold  and  stormy  to  work  out  of  doors  on 
the  farm,  in  winter-time. 

His  father  soon  became  a  very  prosperous  farmer,  work- 
ing three  or  four  extensive  tracts  in  the  neighborhood, 
acquired  by  hard  work  and  economy,  which,  by  the  time 
his  son  Charles  had  arrived  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  it  was  his 
duty  to  superintend,  with  their  hundreds  of  cattle,  horses, 
sheep,  and  mules.  This  stupendous  supervision  was  thrown 
almost  entirely  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  boy  —  enough  for 
two  or  three  men.  Long  before  this  juncture,  young  Jones 
had  developed  a  genius  for  taming  animals.  He  always 
possessed  a  love  for  animated  nature,  and  the  power  of 
subduing  fractious  beasts  to  his  will.  Naturally,  he  be- 
came an  expert  rider  at  a  very  early  age,  which  has  served 
him  so  admirably  on  the  Great  Plains  in  pursuit  of  the 
buffalo  so  closely  connected  with  his  name. 

One  of  the  incidents  of  his  boyhood  life,  he  tells  as 
follows : 

"  When  a  mere  lad  about  twelve  years  old,  I  was  sent 
to  the  woods  with  the  hired  man  to  saw  off  logs.  Snow 
was  on  the  ground,  and  my  father  was  to  come  with  a 
sled  in  the  afternoon  and  haul  the  logs  to  a  mill  about  a 
mile  away.  While  busily  engaged  sawing,  I  looked  up 
into  a  tree  and  saw  a  fox-squirrel  swinging  on  a  limb.  I 
drbpped  the  saw,  and  followed  the  beautiful  little  animal. 
It  was  soon  high  in  the  branches,  and  I  climbed  up  the 
tree  and  pressed  the  wise  little  fellow  to  the  end  of  a 
limb,  but  it  gave  a  spring  and  caught  in  the  boughs  of 
another  tree.  Not  daring  to  emulate  its  method  of  trav- 
eling, I  was  compelled  to  descend  to  the  ground,  then 
climb  up  the  other  tree.  The  squirrel  repeated  its  tac- 
tics and  I  mine,  until  the  greater  part  of  the  day  was 
gone.  At  last  the  little  fellow  took  refuge  in  a  hole,  in  a 
large  burr-oak.  When  I  reached  the  place,  I  thrust  my 
left  hand  into  the  hole  and  grabbed  the  squirrel.  The 
penalty  was,  that  with  his  long  sharp  teeth  he  nearly  cut 


22 


FORTY  YEARS    OF  ADVENTURES 


off  the  end  of  my  finger.  (  Ever  since,  it  has  been  the 
unlucky  member,  and  has  so  often  been  crippled  that  it 
is  impossible  to  bend  it.)  I  held  a  firm  grip  until  reach- 
ing the  ground,  then  thrust  it  into  my  coat 'pocket,  took 
some  honey-locust  thorns  and  pinned  the  pocket  together. 

u  Presently  my  father  arrived,  and  finding  no  logs  to 
load,  demanded  an  explanation.  The  hired  man  ex- 
plained he  could  not  run  the  saw  alone,  and  Charley 
had  been  pursuing  a  squirrel  most  of  the  day.  Then  a 
boy  about  my  size  received  a  good  thrashing,  but  he  man- 
aged to  keep  his  cap  over  the  squirrel  to  protect  it,  pre- 
ferring to  receive  the  blows  himself. 

64 1  managed  to  get  the  squirrel  home;  finally  had  it 
quite  tame,  and  it  proved  a  comfort  to  me.  One  day  I 
was  sent  to  Bloomington,  about  twelve  miles  distant,  to 
do  some  trading.  I  took  Dick  ( the  name  I  had  given  the 
squirrel )  along,  hoping  to  sell  him  for  something,  as  I 
had  made  up  my  mind  others  could  be  caught  if  the  sale 
was  made.  Dick  perched  upon  my  shoulder,  and  I  walked 
the  street  for  hours,  asking  all  I  met  if  they  wanted 
to  buy  a  pet,  but  they  generally  laughed,  and  said  '  No.' 
Finally  a  well-dressed  man  hailed  me,  and  wanted  to  know 
if  I  would  sell  the  squirrel.  I  told  him  Dick  was  a  great 
pet,  but  if  I  could  get  a  fair  price  for  him,  would  sell,  and 
asked  what  he  would  give.  He  said  he  had  a  son  about 
my  age,  a  cripple,  and  he  had  never  seen  anything  like  a 
squirrel,  and  knew  he  would  be  delighted  with  it.  Finally 
he  offered  me  two  dollars  for  Dick.  It  almost  took  my 
breath.  I  had  not  hoped  to  receive  to  exceed  fifty  cents, 
and  would  have  been  proud  of  twenty-five.  I  had  never 
had  but  one  "bit  "  ( twelve  and  one-half  cents)  in  all  my 
life,  and  two  dollars  appeared  like  a  colossal  fortune  to 
me.  It  was  that  transaction  which  fixed  upon  me  the 
ruling  passion  that  has  adhered  so  closely  through  life. 
From  that  time  until  this,  I  have  never  lost  an  opportu- 
nity in  my  power  to  capture  every  wild  animal  that  runs 
on  legs,  as  well  as  some  that  creep  upon  their  bellies. 


HIS  FACULTY  FOR  CONQUERING  ANIMALS  23 

"Before  a  year  rolled  around,  after  receiving  such  a 
princely  amount  for  little  Dick,  I  had  caged  a  good-sized 
menagerie,  consisting  of  every  animal  that  inhabited  cen- 
tral Illinois ;  had  even  captured  rattlesnakes  and  ex- 
tracted their  fangs.  By  this  means  I  had  all  kinds  of 
curios  to  sell  when  the  shows  came  around,  and  thus  real- 
ized many  a  precious  dollar. 

"The  capture  of  that  little  animal,  Dick,  molded  the 
destiny  of  my  whole  life.  It  is  the  little  things  which 
govern  the  lives  of  the  people  of  the  world.  The  first 
money  made  by  a  child  is  never  forgotten ;  he  is  sure  to 
try  the  same  method  again  and  again.  And  I  am  certain 
if  that  first  two  dollars  had  been  made  by  dishonorable 
means,  such  as  gambling,  stealing,  robbing,  cheating,  beg- 
ging, or  blackmailing,  the  habit  would  have  fastened  itself 
as  firmly  upon  me  as  did  that  of  capturing  wild  animals." 

On  the  farm,  if  there  was  an  obstreperous  animal, 
either  horse,  mule,  or  ox,  it  was  he  alone  who  could  con- 
quer it.  He  relates  an  incident  of  this  character,  which 
occurred  when  he  was  but  thirteen  years  old.  His  father 
desired  to  have  a  pair  of  young  steers  yoked  up,  so  as  to 
break  them  for  service  at  the  plow;  but  they  were  so 
vicious  that,  after  trying  for  half  a  day,  assisted  by  two 
burly  hired  men,  the  old  gentleman  was  compelled  to 
abandon  the  job  as  impossible, —  all  badly  worsted  in  their 
struggle  with  the  ferocious  beasts.  Then  his  father  and 
the  men  left,  and  went  to  a  neighboring  village,  Hudson. 
At  once  young  Charles  started  for  the  pasture  into  which 
the  fractious  steers  had  been  turned.  He  succeeded  in  driv- 
ing them  into  the  barnyard  and  then  into  the  barn,  where 
he  threw  a  rope  over  the  horns  of  one,  and  by  skillful  man- 
agement drew  it  up  to  a  beam.  He  then  laid  a  slip-noose 
in  another  rope,  so  as  to  get  the  steer's  hind  foot  into 
it,  when  he  hitched  a  steady  old  mule  to  the  rope,  who 
stretched  the  steer's  leg  out  to  its  greatest  tension.  With 
another  rope  he  anchored  the  stiffened  leg  to  a  brace  on 


24 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


the  opposite  side  of  the  barn  from  where  the  animal's 
head  was  fastened.  All  the  time  that  young  Jones  was 
thus  manipulating,  the  old  mule  quietly  held  the  steer  in  f 
any  position  desired.  The  boy  then  took  the  yoke  and 
bows;  one  of  the  latter  he  keyed  tightly  on  the  animal's 
neck  he  had  in  durance,  and  then  served  his  mate  in  the 
same  manner,  until  they  were  both  so  bound  together  it 
was  impossible  for  them  to  unyoke  themselves.  He  then 
opened  the  double  folding  doors  and  cut  the  ropes  that 
held  them  so  tightly,  when  they  darted  into  the  barn- 
yard. 

When  his  father  returned  in  the  early  evening  he  was 
dumbfounded  to  see  the  steers  yoked  up,  standing  in  the 
yard.  He  became  quite  vexed  when  he  discovered  that 
Charley  had  accomplished  all  alone  what  he  and  two  men 
had  failed  in.  The  fact  was,  that  after  finding  that  the 
steers  were  perfectly  unmanageable,  he  sold  them  to  a 
butcher  while  down  in  the  village  that  afternoon.  The 
next  day  was  occupied  in  endeavoring  to  free  the  oxen 
from  the  yoke.  They  were  so  wild  and  vicious  that  the 
bows  had  actually  to  be  sawed  from  their  necks ;  the  con- 
sequence of  which  was,  the  boy  received  a  good  thrashing 
with  the  ox-goad  for  the  trouble  he  had  caused. 

The  great  majority  of  boys  of  his  then  age  delight  in 
marbles,  kites,  base-ball,  and  kindred  games;  but  young 
Jones  was  the  rare  exception  to  all  this.  He  shunned  the 
crowd  of  boys  who  usually  congregate  in  the  rural  dis- 
tricts, much  preferring  to  be  by  himself,  free  to  ramble 
alone  through  the  timber  or  fields,  where  he  could  indulge 
in  his  love  of  nature  un trammeled  by  any  uncongenial  com- 
panions. Birds  and  animals,  whether  squirrels,  bear,  or 
deer,  were  his  special  loves.  These  he  would  catch  at 
every  opportunity,  and  tame  them  in  his  own  peculiar 
way.  Capturing  animals  was  his  ruling  passion.  The 
more  restrictions  thrown  around  him  by  his  parents,  the 
more  he  became  attached  to  his  favorite  amusement. 

He  declares  that  he  was  unquestionably  the  most  sleepy- 


SLEEPING  AT  NIGHT  IN  THE  FIELD 


25 


headed  boy  that  ever  existed .  It  made  no  difference  whether 
he  retired  as  soon  as  supper  was  disposed  of  —  it  was  just  as 
difficult  to  awaken  him  in  the  morning  as  if  he  had  gone 
to  bed  at  midnight.  At  times,  in  order  to  awaken  him,  it 
was  necessary  to  actually  roll  him  out  on  the  floor  and 
pour  cold  water  into  his  ears.  This  exceedingly  disagree- 
able condition  lasted  until  he  reached  his  sixteenth  year, 
at  which  time  he  fortunately  outgrew  it. 

At  one  time,  when  only  nine,  he  was  sent  to  a  distant 
field  all  alone  to  pull  weeds  out  of  the  corn-rows.  When 
he  reached  the  farthest  point  from  the  house,  a  young 
quail  in  an  adjoining  oat-field  suddenly  commenced  to 
whistle  for  its  mother.  Instantly  the  boy  darted  over 
there,  and  secreting  himself  in  the  tall  grain,  answered  the 
bird's  call  several  times,  but  before  the  fledgling  could 
come  in  response  to  the  counterfeited  mother,  Charles  was 
sound  asleep. 

At  home  every  preparation  for  supper  had  been  com- 
pleted; the  men  were  called  out  of  the  fields,  and  when 
they  sat  down  at  the  table  there  was  "  one  vacant  chair." 
"  Why,  where  's  Charley  ?  "  was  the  anxious  inquiry.  "I 
don't  know,"  all  responded,  with  the  exception  of  one 
gruff  old  Yankee,  who  exclaimed,  uOh,  he 's  out  some- 
where watching  a  gopher-hole,  trying  to  get  him  for  a 
pet."  But  this  did  not  allay  the  anxiety  of  an  affec- 
tionate mother,  who  immediately  abandoned  her  place  at 
the  teapot,  went  to  the  door,  and  in  an  earnest,  ringing 
voice  called  her  missing  child.  But  no  response  came 
echoing  over  the  prairie,  which  was  covered  with  the 
shadows  of  night,  for  the  sun  had  long  since  set;  and  the 
boy's  absence  began  to  be  a  serious  matter,  particularly 
to  the  loving  mother,  whose  countenance  unmistakably 
indicated  her  solicitude.  The  hired  men  then  mounted 
horses ;  the  mother,  the  female  help  and  all  of  the  chil- 
dren were  running  in  every  direction,  calling,  calling,  but 
calling  in  vain;  only  the  echoes  of  their  own  voices  re- 
verberated on  the  calm  night  air,  or  the  gradually  fading 


26 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


sounds  of  the  father  and  the  men  as  they  receded  in  the 
distance.  Every  row  of  corn  was  carefully  scrutinized,  for 
all  knew  he  had  been  sent  there.  Every  nook  and  corner 
where  it  was  believed  possible  for  him  to  have  gone,  was 
thoroughly  searched.  Then  lanterns  and  torches  were 
hastily  procured,  the  neighbors  notified,  and  the  search 
for  the  lost  boy  became  a  neighborhood  affair.  This  was 
a  common  thing  in  those  early  days  on  the  border;  it 
was  necessary  for  mutual  protection,  and  in  a  case  of  this 
kind  promptness  was  essential,  for  the  country  was  still 
infested  with  panthers  and  wolves :  so  no  wonder  the 
mother  of  young  Jones  was  nearly  distracted  when  mid- 
night arrived,  and  no  word  of  her  boy. 

About  one  o'clock,  as  one  of  the  hired  men  was  riding 
rapidly  through  the  oat-field,  his  horse  made  a  tremen- 
dous lunge,  evidently  frightened  at  something;  upon 
which  the  man  dismounted,  and  to  his  astonishment  and 
delight  saw  the  missing  Charley,  sound  asleep, — dream- 
ing, probably,  of  the  motherless  little  bird  he  had  set  his 
heart  upon  capturing. 

Then  a  shout  was  set  up,  and  a  cheer  which  all  under- 
stood, from  its  tone,  to  mean  that  the  boy  had  been  found 
alive  and  uninjured.  A  crowd  soon  gathered  around  the 
place  where  he  was  found,  and  the  naughty  boy,  like  a 
successful  gladiator  of  old,  was  borne  triumphantly  away 
to  the  arms  of  his  mother,  who  so  anxiously  awaited  his 
coming. 

When  Col.  Jones  had  attained  his  majority,  he  began 
to  realize  he  had  passed  the  greater  portion  of  his  years  in 
very  hard  work,  like  a  dutiful  son,  for  the  interests  of  the 
family.  He  had  been  obedient  to  his  father, —  so  there 
were  no  regrets  in  filial  obligations ;  but  he  also  realized 
his  education  had  been  sadly  neglected.  Then  he  deter- 
mined, now  he  was  released  from  any  further  demands  on 
his  time,  to  in  a  measure  rectify  the  misfortune  of  the 
want  of  early  schooling,  so  far  as  it  was  possible  at  this 
late  day.    Having  thus  determined,  under  the  prompt- 


AN  EFFORT  AT  COLLEGE 


27 


ings  of  his  iron  will,  (and  a  little  black-eyed  girl  who  no 
doubt  rather  liked  the  awkward  chap,  yet  was  ashamed  of 
his  ignorance,)  he  packed  up  his  limited  quantity  of  ef- 
fects, walked  to  the  railroad  station,  three  miles  distant, 
and  took  the  train  for  Bloomington.  Arriving  in  that 
flourishing  town,  he  applied  for  entrance  at  the  Wesleyan 
University,  located  there,  for  one  term  at  least,  in  which 
he  was  successful. 

At  this  institution  of  learning  Col.  Jones  studied  dili- 
gently and  earnestly  for  two  years,  at  the  end  of  which 
period,  in  consequence  of  his  close  application,  he  was 
stricken  down  with  typhoid  fever,  which  affected  his  eyes 
very  seriously,  and  he  was  compelled  to  abandon  his  stud- 
ies and  turn  to  other  vocations.  Among  his  classmates  at 
the  University  was  Joseph  W.  Fifer,  since  Governor  of  Il- 
linois, and  many  other  men  who  have  risen  to  distinction 
in  the  domain  of  politics,  law,  and  literature. 

Although  obliged  to  abandon  his  attempt  to  acquire  an 
education,  he  had  no  idea  of  sitting  supinely  at  the  fam- 
ily hearthstone  and  grieving  over  his  misfortune,  but, 
prompted  again  by  his  indomitable  will,  he  notified  his 
father  he  intended  to  start  out  in  the  world  to  seek  his 
own  fortune.  Of  course  the  father,  to  whom  he  had  been 
such  a  dutiful  son,  was  grieved  to  learn  of  his  determina- 
tion to  leave  the  old  home,  and  made  several  favorable 
overtures  to  persuade  his  boy  to  remain  with  him.  Among 
these  was  the  offer  of  a  gift  of  one  of  the  best  farms  of 
which  he  was  possessed,  well  stocked  with  cattle,  imple- 
ments of  the  most  approved  pattern,  and  everything  ready 
to  commence  operations  on  a  large  scale.  But  the  young 
man  refused  all,  determined  to  seek  the  "Far  West"  be- 
yond the  Missouri  river,  to  which  comparatively  unknown 
region  he  had  been  attracted  by  reading  its  tales  of  adven- 
ture and  hairbreadth  escapes,  ever  since  he  was  old  enough 
to  master  words  of  three  syllables.  He  felt  sure  that  in 
that  remote  region  he  could  accumulate  wild  animals  to  his 
heart's  content,  and  never  lost  courage  in  that  direction. 


28 


FORTY  YE ARB    OF  ADVENTURES 


One  beautiful  morning  he  packed  his  little  valise,  shook 
hands  with  his  father,  kissed  his  mother  and  baby  sister 
good-by,  and  was  soon  speeding  westward  over  the  prai- 
ries, full  of  determination  to  succeed,  and  with  energy  to 
carry  out  whatever  enterprise  he  might  attempt.  He  first 
stopped  at  St.  Joseph,  Mo.  This  was  early  in  1866,  just 
after  the  close  of  the  great  Civil  War.  Here  he  remained 
a  few  days,  and  then  started  for  the  wilds  of  the  new 
State  of  Kansas.  He  settled  in  Troy,  Doniphan  county, 
where,  having  managed  to  secure  a  large  amount  of  Osage 
orange  seed,  he  started  a  nursery  for  the  growth  of  hedge 
plants  and  every  variety  of  fruit  trees.  In  1867  the  lo- 
custs, or  grasshoppers  as  they  were  erroneously  called, 
visited  the  State  in  countless  swarms,  darkening  the  air, 
and  in  the  short  space  of  twenty-four  hours  every  vestige 
of  the  nursery  had  disappeared,  except  the  bare  poles  of 
what  had  been  trees;  and  within  a  week  they  stripped 
them  of  their  bark,  completing  absolute  ruin.  This  dis- 
astrous raid  did  not  discourage  the  indomitable  Jones, 
however.  "  Try  again  "  has  ever  been  his  motto,  and  in 
accordance  with  its  precepts,  during  the  winter  he  grafted 
more  than  50,000  trees,  grapevines,  and  other  varieties  of 
fruit.  With  the  opening  spring  came  the  grasshoppers 
again,  and  devoured  a  larger  portion  of  his  year's  labor; 
yet  by  hard  work  he  saved  and  sold  enough  to  enable  him 
to  purchase  a  small  farm  of  twenty  acres,  upon  which  he 
built  a  comfortable  dwelling,  and  outhouses  to  carry  on 
his  business.  In  the  year  1869  Col.  Jones  was  married 
to  Martha  J.  Walton,  the  daughter  of  a  highly  respected 
farmer,  formerly  of  Laporte,  Indiana.  Mr.  Jones's  rela- 
tions with  his  estimable  wife  have  ever  been  of  that  char- 
acter which  proves  that  "  marriage  is  not  a  failure." 

The  only  trouble  he  experienced  was  when  he  would 
leave  home  to  capture  wild  animals,  to  which  his  wife 
always  objected.  Nothing  to  her  appeared  so  much  like 
a  phantom.  Her  fretting  was  always  of  short  duration, 
however,  for  he  was  careful  to  refrain  from  talking  in  re- 


wife's  presentiments  of  danger 


29 


lation  to  his  starting  on  an  expedition  until  about  ready 
to  leave,  and  then  only  in  a  vague  sort  of  way.  Every 
time  he  did  go  she  always  protested  with  increasing 
earnestness,  declaring  she  had  a  presentiment  that  "that 
would  be  his  last  trip."  She  felt  certain  that  some  cow, 
robbed  of  her  offspring  by  him,  would  gore  him  to  death 
in  the  most  shocking  manner,  far  away  from  civilization, 
and  his  body  left  to  bleach  on  the  desert ;  or  that  some 
hostile  band  of  bloodthirsty  savages  would  capture  him 
and  put  him  to  unnameable  torture;  Indians,  Eskimos 
or  wolves  would  overpower  him ;  a  rattlesnake  might  bite 
him;  he  might  die  of  cold,  thirst,  or  hunger.  A  thou- 
sand deaths  of  horrid  character  continually  pictured 
themselves  to  the  wife,  who  was  relieved  of  this  mental 
torture  only  when  her  husband  returned  safely  home. 
His  declarations  of  the  wonderful  results  if  successful  in 
his  dangerous  work  —  fame,  wealth,  honor — were  but  as 
ashes  to  her  mental  lips. 


CHAPTER  III 


"  WESTWARD  HO  !  " 


bound  for  the  wild  west  in  a  prairie  schooner  mrs. 

jones's  first  experience  camping  on  the  prairie  — 

wolves  cut  lariat  and  team  escapes  recaptured 

under  difficulties  joyous  greeting  on  return  to 

CAMP 


ATE  in  the  fall  of  1871  Col.  Jones  left  his  home  in 


Troy,  Kansas,  on  horseback,  to  seek  a  place  where 


'  more  game  and  cheaper  land  could  be  obtained. 
Having  business  in  Marysville,  in  the  same  State, 
he  was  delayed  there  until  midwinter.  The  terrific  storms 
which  prevailed  did  not  daunt  him,  however,  in  his  pur- 
pose; he  is  made  of  ££  sterner  stuff."  A  prevailing  char- 
acteristic of  his  whole  life  is  his  determination  to  carry 
out  to  the  end  any  enterprise,  no  matter  how  difficult,  or 
what  obstacles  may  present  themselves. 

On  the  first  of  January,  1872,  he  again  saddled  his 
horse  and  pressed  forward  to  the  west  until  he  found 
himself  about  two  hundred  miles  from  home,  near  the 
center  of  what  is  now  Osborne  county,  on  the  south  fork 
of  the  Solomon  river.  There  he  discovered  a  most  excel- 
lent tract  of  vacant  Government  land,  on  which  was  an 
abundance  of  water  and  some  timber.  This  he  entered, 
and  was  soon  the  proud  possessor  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  rich,  fertile  soil,  almost  in  the  center  of 
the  buffalo  range.  All  of  the  preliminaries  necessary, 
required  by  the  United  States  land  laws,  having  been  con- 


(30) 


BOUND  FOR  THE  WILD  WEST 


31 


eluded,  to  hold  the  land,  he  returned  to  his  old  home  on 
the  same  means  of  transportation,  his  tough  and  faithful 
horse. 

Arriving  at  Troy,  he  arranged  his  financial  affairs,  and 
the  following  April  loaded  his  worldly  goods  into  a  large 
wagon,  in  which,  accompanied  by  his  wife  and  only  child, 
he  left  all  his  old  associations,  the  comforts  of  civiliza- 
tion and  friends,  for  his  claim  on  the  remote  plains  of 
western  Kansas.  This  was  a  severe  undertaking,  espe- 
cially for  his  young  wife,  who  had  been  reared  amidst 
the  luxuries  of  an  Eastern  community ;  but  like  all  our 
pioneer  American  women,  she  cheerfully  followed  the  for- 
tunes of  her  brave  husband,'  accepting  whatever  of  hard- 
ship might  befall.  None  excepting  those  who  have  had  a 
like  experience  can  conceive  what  such  a  sacrifice  means ; 
what  privations  must  be  endured;  what  disadvantages 
must  be  contended  with,  and  what  suffering  is  the  por- 
tion of  the  women  who  have  built  up  the  civilization  of 
the  mid-continent. 

On  the  night  of  the  sixth  day  the  precious  freight  of 
that  lone  wagon  was  to  sleep  on  the  ground,  having  left 
the  last  cabin  on  the  " trail"  far  behind.  The  darkness 
and  awful  silence  were  oppressive  ;  the  latter  broken  only 
at  long  intervals,  by  the  occasional  neighing  of  the  horses 
at  the  end  of  their  picket-ropes,  the  flapping  of  the  wagon- 
cover  in  the  fitful  gusts  of  wind,  or  the  dismal  cry  of  a 
hungry  wolf  in  the  rocky  ravines. 

At  the  first  streak  of  dawn  a  terrible  howling  and  yell- 
ing resounded  upon  the  early  morning  air,  apparently  not 
a  hundred  yards  distant  from  camp,  caused  by  a  pack  of 
persistent  coyotes  that  were  patiently  waiting  for  the 
wagon  to  move  on,  that  they  might  feast  upon  the  scraps 
left  from  the  meals  of  the  "  movers  " — fighting  and  snarl- 
ing meanwhile  among  themselves,  until  the  time  should 
arrive  when  they  might  take  possession  of  the  abandoned 
place,  too  cowardly  to  approach  nearer  while  the  camp 
was  occupied.    Col.  Jones  of  course  paid  no  attention  to 


32 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


such  an  occurrence:  he  was  familiar  with  the  nature  of 
the  animals  which  were  making  the  disturbance;  but  to 
his  gentle  wife  the  unusual  noise,  so  foreign  to  her  del- 
icate ears,  was  a  source  of  torture,  and  her  sleep  was  con- 
tinually disturbed. 

With  the  daylight  the  curious  sounds  ended,  but  the 
long,  lank,  wistful  brutes  could  be  seen  sitting  on  their 
haunches,  watching  every  movement  in  camp,  licking 
their  chops  in  eager  expectancy  of  the  meager  feast  that 
awaited  them. 

At  the  moment  the  red  flush  in  the  east  betokened  the 
approaching  day,  Mr.  Jones  was  out  of  his  blankets,  and 
his  first  thought  was  of  his  horses.  To  his  astonishment 
and  discomfiture,  the  wolves  had  gnawed  in  twain  the 
lariat  with  which  they  were  tied,  and  the  animals  were 
nowhere  to  be  seen.  Mr.  Jones  ran  back  a  mile  or  more 
on  the  "trail,"  until  he  reached  the  crest  of  the  divide 
which  encompassed  a  view  of  the  country  for  a  long  dis- 
tance to  the  eastward ;  but  his  horses  were  not  in  sight, 
even  from  that  vantage-point.  Their  tracks,  however,  were 
plainly  visible  in  the  dust  of  the  desert,  turned  toward 
their  old  home.  He  thought  of  the  dilemma  in  which  he 
was  placed,  and  of  what  Mrs.  Jones  would  say  when  she 
learned  of  the  unfortunate  occurrence.  He  was  not  at  all 
certain  whether  they  would  be  recovered  within  a  dis- 
tance of  ten,  or  fifty  miles,  or  whether  they  were  irrecov- 
erably lost,  as  prowling  bands  of  Indians  were  in  the 
country,  besides  many  horse-thieves. 

He  knew  that  he  could  not  conscientiously  keep  the  facts 
from  his  wife,  and  go  in  search  of  them,  so  he  hastened 
back  to  the  wagon  and  communicated  the  direful  news. 

"  What  shall  we  do?  "  was  naturally  her  first  inquiry. 
"  I  '11  go  and  get  them,"  he  replied.  "  I  '11  go  with  you," 
was  Mrs.  Jones's  quick  rejoinder.  He  knew  that  was  im- 
possible, and  persuaded  her  that  it  was  better  to  remain 
with  the  wagon  until  he  made  a  thorough  search,  prom- 
ising his  anxious  wife  to  return  before  night  in  any  event. 


HUNTING  FOR  THE   LOST  HORSES. 


33 


This  was  an  hour  when  the  courage  of  any  woman  would 
have  been  severely  strained,  and  Mrs.  J.ones  was  sorely 
tried.  She  could  do  nothing  but  seat  herself  upon  the 
highest  box  on  the  wagon,  with  her  child  (a  boy  only  one 
year  old )  in  her  arms,  and  watch  through  the  weary  hours 
which  must  necessarily  elapse  before  it  was  possible  for 
her  husband  to  return.  Thus  she  wearily  sat,  looking 
earnestly  in  the  same  direction,  as  Daniel  of  old,  until 
deliverance  came. 

Col.  Jones  was  fleet-footed,  courageous,  and  endowed 
with  wonderful  powers  of  endurance ;  so  he  started,  full 
of  hope,  with  his  rope  and  hat  in  hand,  coat  off,  after  the 
renegade  team,  while  his  wife  watched  his  form  as  it  flitted 
like  a  flying  shadow,  over  hills,  across  valleys,  and  through 
the  deep  ravines,  until  the  high  divide  had  taken  him  be- 
yond the  range  of  her  vision. 

Mile  after  mile  was  rapidly  left  in  his  rear ;  the  hours 
rolled  on  apace,  and  the  sun  indicated  the  time  to  be 
nearly  noon ;  still  the  tracks  of  the  missing  animals  could 
be  distinctly  seen  ever  pointing  eastwardly.  It  was  be- 
coming a  serious  matter  to  their  intrepid  pursuer ;  he  was 
far  from  his  camp ;  could  with  mental  vision  see  his  pa- 
tient wife  straining  her  eyes  in  the  direction  he  had  gone, 
in  expectancy  of  his  speedy  return.  He  now  realized  that 
night  would  be  upon  him  before  he  was  aware  of  it,  and 
that  he  must  soon  retrace  his  steps  in  order  to  be  back  at 
the  wagon,  horses  or  no  horses.  He  felt  assured,  too,  that  it 
would  be  impossible  for  him  to  keep  up  his  rate  of  speed, 
and  that  he  must  slacken  his  gait.  He  resolved,  however, 
to  continue  on  for  another  hour,  at  which  time  he  would 
abandon  the  chase  and  return  to  camp,  if  the  horses  were 
not  then  to  be  seen. 

While  he  was  ambling  down  a  long  hill  on  a  run,  pon- 
dering upon  his  embarrassing  situation,  he  passed  around 
a  short  curve  in  his  course,  where,  to  his  surprise  and  de- 
light, he  discovered  the  recreant  animals  within  a  stone's- 
throw.  One  of  them  stood  perfectly  still,  with  ears  erect, 
—  3 


34 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


listening  to  the  noise  their  owner  had  made  coming  down 
the  hill,  and  the  other  was  deliberately  moving  towards 
him  to  learn  the  cause.  As  soon,  however,  as  they  saw  it 
was  their  master  on  the  run  after  them,  they  threw  up 
their  heads  and  tails  and  were  off  again,  as  on  the  wings 
of  the  wind,  keeping  up  their  rapid  gait  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  see, —  for  the  shelter  of  the  trees  soon  obscured 
them. 

Many  people  at  such  an  unfortunate  juncture  would 
have  given  up  in  despair;  not  so,  however,  with  a  man 
constituted  as  is  Col.  Jones.  He  was  rejoiced  at  seeing 
his  animals  again,  notwithstanding  they  had  fled  at  his 
approach,  and  knew  that  his  strategy,  learned  by  a  long 
and  varied  experience,  would  enable  him  to  circumvent 
any  apparently  hopeless  chance  on  the  part  of  mere  brute 
intelligence.  He  cogitated  for  a  moment;  remembered 
that  the  trail  made  a  long  curve  to  the  south,  and  then 
turned  northward  again.  So  he  started  northward,  and 
went  down  into  the  valley  at  the  greatest  speed  he  could 
command,  determined  to  reach  the  trail  before  the  fright- 
ened horses  could  possibly  arrive  there.  When  he  came 
to  the  creek  which  flows  through  the  valley,  he  found  it 
quite  deep,  and  about  ten  feet  wide.  Although  an  excel- 
lent swimmer,  he  did  not  care  to  plunge  into  the  cold 
water,  saturated  as  he  was  with  perspiration.  There  were 
many  small  trees  growing  along  the  margin  of  the  stream, 
and  he  was  not  a  moment  in  making  up  his  mind  what  to 
do  under  the  circumstances.  Selecting  a  withy  sapling 
about  twenty  feet  high,  hanging  towards  the  opposite 
shore,  he  sprang  into  it,  climbed  nearly  to  its  top,  where 
his  weight  bent  it  over  towards  the  other  side  of  the 
water,  at  which  instant  he  sprang  from  his  perch.  His 
calculation  had  been  correct,  and  he  landed  with  but 
little  room  to  spare.  All  this  was  effected  in  less  time 
than  it  requires  to  read  it,  and  he  continued  on  his  way 
as  rapidly  as  his  strength  would  permit,  for  it  was  half 
a  mile  before  he  could  reach  the  trail,  on  which  the 


RECAPTURED  UNDER  DIFFICULTIES 


35 


horses  were  surely  approaching,  and  he  must  arrive  at  a 
certain  point  before  them  or  his  strategy  would  fail. 

He  shortly  reached  a  little  divide  which  parallels  the 
creek,  and  from  its  crest  saw  the  animals  walking  briskly 
almost  opposite  him.  It  was  too  late  to  carry  out  the 
plan  he  had  formulated.  If  he  ran  out  to  head  them  off, 
it  would  only  result  in  frightening  them,  undoubtedly 
cause  them  to  stampede  again,  and  all  his  trouble  would 
have  been  in  vain.  He  then  changed  his  tactics  to  meet 
the  emergency  which  had  occurred.  Quickly  taking  in 
the  altered  condition  of  affairs,  with  that  perspicacity 
which  characterizes  the  old  plainsman,  he  rushed  down 
the  divide  and  up  the  creek  for  about  half  a  mile,  to  a 
point  where  a  small  ravine  enters  it.  He  followed  the 
tortuous  windings  of  this  ravine  for  nearly  a  mile,  then 
crossed  the  little  divide  separating  him  from  the  other 
ravine,  up  which  the  horses  were  slowly  coming,  arriving 
at  the  trail  in  a  very  favorable  spot,  with  relatively  high 
embankments  on  either  side.  Now  came  the  final  strug- 
gle. Had  the  animals  yet  passed  out  ?  Fortunately  not. 
He  could  discover  no  marks  of  their  hoofs  ;  all  was  well  so 
far.  His  rope  was  hidden  behind  him,  and  the  now  anx- 
ious pursuer  was  compelled  to  be  very  cautious.  He  wan- 
dered slowly  back  on  the  trail,  loudly  singing  one  of  his 
favorite  tunes,  fearing  that  if  he  came  suddenly  upon  the 
animals  in  such  a  sequestered  place  without  some  sort  of 
warning,  they  would  take  to  flight  in  another  direction. 
This  strategy  lasted  but  a  moment,  and  he  was  not  by 
any  means  too  soon,  for  the  horses  suddenly  appeared 
upon  the  trail  right  in  front  of  him.  He  sauntered  along 
carelessly  toward  the  now  interested  animals,  who  pricked 
up  their  ears  as  they  stood  perfectly  passive,  seemingly 
recognizing  their  master's  voice.  Instead  of  attempting 
to  rush  off  again,  they  deliberately  walked  up  to  him, 
apparently  as  much  pleased  to  see  him  as  he  to  meet 
them  under  such  favorable  circumstances. 

The  thing  was  done,  and  well  done,  thought  the  Colonel 


36 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


as  he  mounted  one,  fastened  the  rope  around  the  neck  of 
the  other,  and  started  on  his  return  to  camp.  It  was  now 
the  middle  of  the  afternoon,  and  he  was  at  least  twenty- 
five  miles  from  the  wagon,  so  he  wasted  no  time  on  the 
return  trip.  He  made  the  horses  atone  for  the  trouble 
they  had  given  him,  by  pushing  them  at  the  top  of  their 
speed,  realizing  it  would  not  hurt  them,  as  he  intended  to 
remain  in  camp  another  twelve  hours,  which  would  give 
them  ample  rest  for  their  journey  on  the  following  day. 
They  seemed  to  acknowledge  that  they  had  committed  a 
grievous  offense,  by  willingly  doing  their  utmost  to  reach 
camp  without  any  persuasion, —  and  away  they  traveled 
at  the  rate  of  twelve  miles  an  hour  towards  the  goal  which 
he  was  so  anxious  to  gain  before  the  night  set  in. 

It  was  long  before  sundown  when  he  reached  the  high 
divide  from  which  he  could  see  Mrs.  Jones  still  sitting  on 
the  same  old  box.  Of  course  she  could  see  him  also,  and 
signals  were  quickly  exchanged  which  settled  the  question 
of  identity,  and  a  great  load  was  lifted  from  her  heart, 

The  reader,  although  he  may  never  have  experienced  an 
incident  exactly  similar  to  that  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jones, 
can  imagine  the  mutual  joy  of  such  a  meeting,  under  the 
peculiar  circumstances  attending  it.  Col.  Jones  was  no 
more  a  hero  than  his  estimable,  patient  wife  was  a  hero- 
ine. In  her  anxiety,  though,  she  had  absolutely  forgotten 
that  her  worn-out  husband  had  left  at  the  earliest  dawn 
without  having  eaten  a  morsel  of  food ;  had  walked  and 
run  a  quarter  of  a  hundred  miles,  and  ridden  bareback 
the  same  distance,  and  must  necessarily  be  in  a  famishing 
condition.  He  was  almost  exhausted  ;  asked  for  a  cup  of 
cold  coffee,  upon  which  she  realized  her  forgetfulness. 
But  never  was  a  meal  cooked  by  an  unaccustomed.camp- 
fire  with  such  dispatch  as  that  prepared  for  him  on  this 
occasion.  He  sat  down,  and  realized  that  his  wife  was 
the  very  best  cook  in  the  world. 


CHAPTER  IV 


DESPERADOES 

FARMING  IN   THE    FAR   WEST  A  FRUITLESS  BUFFALO-HUNT 

 LIVING  ON  BREAD  AND  NO  WATER  MIRAGE  INTENSI- 
FIED BY  PROSTRATION  BUFFALO   RUN   HIGH  IN  THE  AIR 

 DESPERADOES  IN  CAMP  4 '  IF  YOU   HAVE  ANYTHING  TO 

SAY,    SAY  IT  D  D  QUICK,  FOR  I  AM   GOING  TO  KILL  YOU 

RIGHT  HERE"  RESCUED  BY  A  PLUCKY  BOY 

IN  the  summer  of  1872  I  was  an  embryo  farmer  on 
the  new  raw  prairies  of  western  Kansas,  which  re- 
gion just  then  began  to  attract  immigrants  on  ac- 
count of  its  superiority  of  soil  and  climate.  I  had 
been  a  successful  buffalo-hunter,  had  killed  thousands 
simply  for  their  hides,  but  the  idea  of  my  buffalo-rescu- 
ing project  was  but  a  creature  of  the  brain,  not  yet  per- 
fectly formulated;  yet  that  was  the  year  I  determined  to 
'  some  sweet  day  '  capture  a  herd,  domesticate  and  per- 
petuate the  species.  I  captured  about  a  dozen  that  year, 
sold  them  for  seven  dollars  and  a  half  each,  and  was  de- 
lighted to  receive  even  that  much.  After  I  had  finished 
my  corn-plowing  (it  was  in  the  early  part  of  August),  I 
determined  to  go  on  a  hunt,  as  the  week  previously  I  had 
learned  of  the  main  herd  of  buffalo  about  sixty  miles  west 
of  where  I  had  staked  out  my  Government  claim. 

" Although  an  experienced  hunter,  I  had  not  given  so 
much  attention  to  the  habits  of  the  buffalo  as  I  have  dur- 
ing the  past  quarter  of  a  century.  No  doubt  it  was  my 
lack  of  buffalo  lore,  which  allowed  me  to  imagine  I  could 
any  time  within  the  next  week  go  where  the  herd  was  re- 

(37) 


38 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


ported  to  have  been  seen,  and  find  it  there  still.  I  took 
an  abundance  of  time  to  make  my  preparation,  and  em- 
ployed a  young  man,  a  neighbor,  to  go  with  me.  The  day 
before  I  left,  two  strangers  came  along,  who  declared  they 
desired  to  secure  work  in  our  section  of  the  country,  at 
anything".  I  informed  them  that  all  the  buffalo-hunters 
were  out  after  hides,  which  was  the  principal  employment 
of  the  few  people  who  lived  in  the  region,  and  they  could 
undoubtedly  get  a  job  of  skinning,  if  they  were  able  to 
find  an  outfit  going  to  the  range.  I  was  besieged  to  let 
them  go  with  me ;  they  promised  to  help  about  the  camp 
and  skin  buffaloes  until  they  were  able  to  find  regular 
work.  I  finally  took  pity  on  the  miserable  tramps,  and 
consented. 

"The  next  morning  we  rolled  out  on  our  journey  in 
search  of  the  great  herd  I  had  heard  of.  Two  days  of 
travel  without  any  incident  worth  recalling,  brought  us 
to  where  we  certainly  expected  to  find  game,  but  not  a  sin- 
gle buffalo  could  we  see  in  any  direction.  I  had  provided 
the  outfit  with  three  days'  rations  of  meat,  plenty  of  flour 
for  two  months,  together  with  other  necessary  sundries. 

"  Our  meat  was  soon  gone;  the  fourth  and  fifth  days 
passed,  and  still  not  a  sign  of  any  game ;  nor  were  there 
hunting  parties  to  be  seen  anywhere,  from  which  we  might 
have  replenished  our  stock  of  provisions,  or  at  least  our 
meat  rations. 

u  We  had  now  been  living  two  days  on  bread  and  butter 
alone ;  the  butter  was  all  consumed  on  the  night  of  the 
fifth  day  —  the  dry  bread  must  serve  us  until  we  could  kill 
a  buffalo.  This  condition  of  things  continued  until  the 
morning  of  the  sixth  day,  when  we  rose  very  early,  ate  a 
piece  of  bread,  drank  some  water,  and  then  started  off  on 
the  buffalo  trail  to  the  northwest,  where  the  great  herd 
had  passed  a  week  previously.  Noon  came,  but  nothing 
in  the  shape  of  game  appeared,  and  we  had  no  water.  The 
sun  poured  its  rays  down  upon  our  defenseless  heads,  as 
only  those  who  have  experienced  a  summer  day  on  the 


DECEPTIVE  PRANKS  OF  MIRAGE 


39 


Plains  can  imagine.  It  was  intolerably  hot,  and  the  de- 
ceptive mirage  played  its  curious  pranks  with  the  broiling 
landscape,  by  forming  the  most  beautiful  lakes,  running 
over  with  the  clearest  water  imaginable,  while  their  shores 
were  fringed  with  the  shadiest,  tallest,  and  most  luxuriant 
timber;  but  as  we  approached  the  seductive  spots,  they 
would  vanish  like  '  castles  in  the  air. ' 

"At  one  time,  as  the  wagon  was  moving  slowly  along,  I 
was  half  a  mile  to  the  left,  and  on  the  border  of  a  prairie- 
dog  village.  Here  I  determined  to  kill  some  of  the  ro- 
dents, to  make  soup,  and  was  preparing  to  execute  my 
plans,  when  on  looking  toward  the  team  I  saw  a  beautiful 
pool  of  water,  and  really  believed  it  to  be  such,  for  I  rea- 
soned thus  :  '  It  cannot  be  a  mirage  ;  it  is  certainly  water, 
because  I  can  see  the  reflection  of  the  team,  the  wagon 
and  its  occupants,  in  the  little  lake.  I  am  satisfied  it  is 
clear,  cold  water,  and  I  will  hasten  and  quench  my  intol- 
erable thirst,  for  my  tongue  is  actually  swollen  ;  I  cannot 
endure  the  suffering  much  longer,  as  I  have  not  had  a 
drop  since  long  before  sunrise,  and  it  is  now  past  the  mid- 
dle of  the  afternoon.'  I  walked  swiftly  towards  the  pond, 
but  on  approaching  with  every  nerve  at  its  utmost  tension, 
it  vanished,  as  had  the  others,  and  my  disappointment 
was  sore,  as  may  be  imagined. 

"In  a  short  time  we  arrived  at  the  bank  of  a  dry  ra- 
vine, or  1  arroyo  '  as  the  Mexicans  call  these  breaks  in  the 
surface  of  the  prairie,  and  ordering  the  men  to  go  down 
on  the  south  side  with  the  team,  I  told  them  I  would  goto 
the  valley  on  the  north  and  try  to  find  water.  The  stran- 
gers had  been  riding  all  day,  and  I  suggested  to  them  they 
had  better  walk  awhile  to  lighten  up  the  load,  as  the  horses 
were  becoming  rapidly  exhausted  and  had  been  traveling 
rapidly  all  day  without  water.  One  of  the  men  in  an  in- 
solent manner  said :  '  We  did  not  agree  to  make  this  trip 
on  foot,  and  don't  propose  to  wear  ourselves  out, —  we  can 
do  better.  Besides,  you  are  a  d — d  fool  to  go  down  this 
dry  ravine.    Why  don't  you  keep  on  to  the  northwest  ?  ' 


40 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


u  This  was  a  '  stinger '  to  me  in  my  helpless  condition, 
as  I  had  only  the  lad  whom  I  had  brought  from  home, 
and  immediately  realized  that  they  were  desperate  char- 
acters and  no  doubt  had  formulated  some  plan  to  take 
my  outfit,  as  their  actions  for  the  past  day  or  two  con- 
vinced me  they  were  nothing  more  or  less  than  desperadoes. 
My  attention  from  that  time  on  was  given  to  formulating 
some  scheme  to  circumvent  them.  I  made  no  reply  to 
their  insolent  question,*  but  ordered  the  boy  to  drive 
down  the  ravine  as  I  had  suggested,  and  to  keep  in  the 
little  valley.  Four  o'clock  arrived,  and  matters  were 
assuming  a  serious  phase :  the  hot,  dry  wind  was  with- 
ering everything, —  even  my  very  flesh  seemed  to  be 
shrinking;  my  tongue  was  parched  and  swollen,  while 
my  eyes  I  could  scarcely  trust  to  be  right  or  wrong.  I 
could  see  lakes  and  groves ;  the  trees  appeared  to  be  ap- 
proaching, but  proved  to  be  only  small  weeds,  while  the 
lakes,  too,  were  merely  optical  illusions. 

"  While  in  this  really  precarious  condition  physically, 
as  I  staggered  along,  I  heard  a  rumbling  sound,  and  look- 
ing to  the  north  I  saw  very  distinctly  six  buffalo  high  up 
in  the  air,  about  ten  times  larger  than  usual,  and  about 
five  hundred  feet  above  the  ground,  running  in  space, 
coming  directly  towards  me.  I  at  once  dropped  on  my 
left  knee,  ready  to  shoot,  but  could  not  catch  a  'bead' 
on  them,  as  they  danced  around  in  every  direction. 
Nearer  and  nearer  they  came,  until  I  could  hear  the  rat- 
tling of  their  hoofs ;  they  must  have  been  within  forty 
yards  of  me,  when  I  heard  them  give  a  great  snort,  as 
they  turned  quickly  eastward  and  bolted  around  me. 
They  sailed  through  the  air  with  their  legs  making  regu- 
lar motions,  as  though  they  were  running  on  the  earth, 
yet  to  me  they  appeared  circling  high  above,  and  soon 
disappeared  from  my  view.  I  was  really  glad  when  the 
strange  vision  was  ended ;  it  was  certainly  a  relief,  for  it 
appeared  to  me  that  I  had  lost  my  reasoning  faculties, 
and  my  doom  was  at  hand. 


MIRAGE  INTENSIFIED  BY  PROSTRATION 


41 


u  I  felt  myself  perfectly  conscious,  and  realized  my  sit- 
uation ;  there  were  my  gun,  my  cartridges,  and  everything 
near  me  in  their  normal  state.  I  could  scarcely  believe 
that  a  mirage  would  delude  me  to  the  extent  described, 
but  that  is  just  what  it  was.  The  fact  is,  the  buffalo 
passed  so  near  I  heard  them  puff  and  snort,  and  no  doubt 
could  have  hit  them  with  a  stone  had  I  been  able  to  prop- 
erly locate  their  true  position.  My  power  of  sight  being 
somewhat  paralyzed  from  intense  thirst  and  exhaustion, 
the  mirage  was  intensified  in  its  deception  to  my  nervous 
system. 

"  I  managed  to  struggle  on  until  I  reached  the  wagon, 
where,  under  shade  of  its  cover,  I  rode  awhile  to  recruit 
my  failing  strength.  By  the  time  I  had  gained  somewhat 
of  my  normal  faculties  and  power  it  was  nearly  sundown, 
and  the  shades  of  evening  helped  to  brace  me  up.  All  of 
us,  including  the  team,  were  in  a  really  deplorable  condi- 
tion. I  finally  saw,  while  gazing  around  in  search  of  suc- 
cor, an  object  ahead  which  appeared  to  be  a  tree  reaching 
to  the  sky.  But  the  atmospheric  conditions  were  still 
playing  tricks  with  me,  and  consequently  I  did  not  dare 
to  decide  what  it  really  was  that  I  had  seen, —  for  I  had 
been  fooled  so  often  that  day  I  could  no  longer  believe 
my  own  eyes.  I  had  lost  confidence  in  myself,  and  it  did 
not  return  until  the  sun  had  gone  down.  What  had  been 
magnified  so  greatly,  instead  of  being  a  gigantic  tree  was 
in  reality  a  small  box-elder  bush  about  eight  feet  high. 
This,  however,  was  encouraging,  proving  that  we  were  cer- 
tainly making  progress. 

"  We  soon  discovered  a  clump  of  trees  or  bushes  ahead, 
which  also  had  an  inspiring  effect  upon  our  almost  worn- 
out  natures,  because  these  objects  were  indications  that 
moist  ground  existed  there,  and  that  was  what  we  so  much 
needed,  for  it  would  indicate  that  water  was  near  the 
surface,  at  any  rate.  But  unfortunately  we  were  still 
doomed  to  sore  disappointment,  for  there  was  none  of  the 
precious  fluid  in  the  immediate  vicinity.    We  continued 


42 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


on  our  weary  journey  until  darkness  set  in.  If  I  had 
been  alone,  I  should  have  felt  fairly  comfortable,  but  the 
two  tramps,  genuine  toughs,  had  changed  into  almost 
raving  maniacs,  they  were  so  completely  overcome  by 
thirst.  I  did  the  best  I  could;  assured  them  that  water 
was  certainly  near,  adjuring  them  to  be  a  little  patient, 
as  I  was  sure  we  would  strike  it  by  keeping  down  the 
ravine,  which  had  now  become  pretty  well  dotted  with 
trees.  I  went  out  to  search  for  water;  took  a  spade  from 
the  side  of  the  wagon,  and  commenced  to  dig  in  the  sand 
which  formed  the  bed  of  the  creek.  I  found  it  moist,  but 
could  not  squeeze  out  any  water ;  but  by  putting  a  few  of 
the  damp  pebbles  in  our  mouths,  it  temporarily  relieved 
our  feverish  and  parched  throats.  Again  we  wandered 
down  the  ravine,  which  was  becoming  more  densely  lined 
with  cottonwood,  ash,  and  box-elder,  and  presently  came 
to  a  '  drift '  caused  by  a  relatively  large  tree  which  had 
blown  down  and  was  lying  across  the  bed  of  the  ravine 
(or  creek,  at  certain  times  of  the  year).  The  water  had 
washed  out  a  deep  channel  under  the  debris  of  the  logs, 
but  not  a  drop  remained ;  all  had  been  evaporated  under 
the  influence  of  the  intensely  hot  weather.  I  again  com- 
menced to  excavate,  this  time  in  the  deepest  place  that 
had  washed  out,  for  I  was  sure  water  must  be  close  to  the 
surface.  Sure  enough !  I  struck  it,  but  it  was  so  thick 
with  quicksand  that  it  caved  in  as  fast  as  I  could  throw 
it  out.  Yet  I  knew  that  by  a  little  perseverance  we  would 
all  be  supplied  and  saved  from  a  horrid  death.  Presently 
we  heard  the  report  of  a  rifle  coming  from  the  direction 
of  down-stream,  not  more  than  a  half-mile  away,  and  I 
quickly  abandoned  operations  with  the  spade. 

"We  all  started  for  the  point  from  whence  came  the 
joyful  sound,  and  a  welcome  sight  caught  our  eyes, —  a 
hunter's  camp  and  a  well  of  water  in  the  sand.  It  was 
full  of  the  delicious,  pure  cold  beverage,  which  we  rel- 
ished as  mortals  never  did  before  or  since.  They  had,  be- 
sides, an  abundance  of  fine  fat  buffalo-meat,  of  which 


SUPPER  IN  THE  HUNTERS'  CAMP 


43 


they  invited  us  to  partake  freely,  as  is  the  custom  on  the 
Plains.  We  soon  had  an  oven  of  biscuits  under  way,  and 
by  the  time  coffee  was  ready  we  sat  down  to  a  most  boun- 
tiful meal  which  we  so  needed  to  revive  our  weakened 
bodies. 

"  The  buffalo-meat  was  from  a  young  animal  —  tender, 
and  with  an  abundance  of  rich  tallow  we  made  a  gravy 
that  seemed  infinitely  superior  to  the  sweetest  butter. 
What  a  change  comes  over  the  hungry  hunter  when  his 
appetite  (which  is  the  best  sauce)  is  appeased  !  His  whole 
nature  is  full  of  unselfishness,  and  his  heart  goes  out  to 
the  lowliest  with  a  full  measure  of  brotherly  love ;  he  is 
then  involuntarily  a  Christian,  in  the  most  rigid  accept- 
ance of  the  term. 

' 4  I  was  informed  by  these  generous  men  that  the  main 
herd  was  about  twenty  miles  north,  a  few  buffalo  having 
been  in  the  vicinity  of  the  camp  that  afternoon.  Al- 
though the  wants  of  my  physical  nature  had  been  abun- 
dantly supplied,  I  was  mentally  discouraged  that  night, 
and  slept  but  little ;  for,  now  familiar  with  the  character 
of  the  men  I  had  foolishly  brought  with  me,  I  felt  it 
would  be  imprudent  to  allow  them  to  go  farther  in  my 
company.  I  endeavored  to  persuade  them  to  stay  with  the 
gentlemen  that  had  so  kindly  entertained  us,  who  had  ex- 
pressed a  willingness  to  employ  them  in  skinning  buffalo ; 
and  that  if  a  reasonable  number  were  secured,  something 
besides  their  board  would  be  paid.  This  did  not  satisfy 
the  two  tramps.  They  insisted  that  they  were  to  stay  with 
me  until  I  found  them  a  paying  job  —  which  was  false. 
So  I  determined  to  abandon  the  hunt  and  the  next  morn- 
ing start  for  home,  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  distant. 
Breakfast  disposed  of  early,  I  informed  the  men  that  I 
had  all  the  hunt  I  cared  for,  and  intended  to  leave  at  once 
for  home.  This  change  in  the  plans  they  strenuously  ob- 
jected to.  I  made  all  sorts  of  excuses  for  so  doing,  and  at 
last  told  them  in  a  most  decided  manner  that  I  was  cer- 
tainly going. 


44 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


u After  breakfast,  on  looking  around  we  saw  a  large  buf- 
falo about  a  mile  farther  down  the  ravine,  standing  near 
a  high  bank.  The  strangers  wanted  to  go  and  shoot  it. 
I  consented,  and  they  started  off  with  my  Henry  rifle  and 
an  old  musket  belonging  to  themselves,  while  the  boy  and 
I  hitched  up  the  horses  and  pulled  down  the  stream  about 
half  a  mile,  to  the  south  of  the  high  bank  where  the  buf- 
falo had  been  seen  ;  but  we  could  discover  nothing  of  him 
or  the  men.  I  repeatedly  fired  my  gun  and  called  aloud 
several  times,  but  received  no  response.  On  looking  to- 
wards the  south  in  the  direction  we  intended  to  travel,  I 
saw  two  objects  a  mile  or  so  away.  Supposing  them  to 
be  the  men  we  were  looking  for,  I  turned  the  team  and 
headed  in  that  direction.  The  Solomon  river  was  about 
forty  miles  to  the  south,  and  we  expected  to  make  it  for 
our  camping-ground  that  night.  We  kept  watch  of  the 
two  objects  until  about  noon,  when  they  disappeared.  We 
supposed  they  had  entered  the  ravine  and  continued  the 
journey  southward,  yet  thought  it  very  strange,  indeed, 
that  these  men  should  be  so  anxious  to  travel  on  foot,  as 
they  had  been  so  averse  to  that  method  of  locomotion  the 
day  previous. 

u  I  was  very  much  worried,  and  thought  they  could  not 
have  been  our  men  or  they  would  have  waited  until  over- 
taken. Could  it  be  possible  they  had  stolen  my  rifle,  and 
'  skipped  '  purposely  ?  or  what  was  the  trouble  ?  I  drove 
on  slowly  until  nearly  night,  when  we  arrived  at  the  river 
and  went  into  camp,  about  a  hundred  yards  from  an  out- 
fit of  five  men,  who  had  also  been  on  a  hunt. 

" After  supper,  as  the  boy  and  I  were  talking  over  the 
mysterious  disappearance  of  the  two  strangers,  we  were 
very  much  surprised  to  see  them  suddenly  emerge  from 
under  a  bush,  not  twenty  feet  from  where  we  sat.  The 
largest  one  walked  straight  up  to  me  with  my  rifle  in  his 
hands,  and  said:  'Old  chap,  you  are  my  meat  now.  If 
you  have  anything  to  say,  say  it  d — d  quick,  as  I  am 
going  to  kill  you  right  here ! '    My  other  gun  was  in  the 


TROUBLE  WITH  THE  DESPERADOES 


45 


wagon,  and  my  revolver  lying  on  a  bundle  just  out  of 
reach.  He  stood  within  ten  feet  of  me,  with  the  gun 
pointing  straight  at  my  heart,  his  finger  on  the  trigger. 
I  knew  the  least  pressure  on  it  by  him  would  settle  me 
for  all  time,  as  I  always  shot  with  a  hair-trigger;  besides, 
it  was  my  favorite  weapon  for  close  quarters,  and  carried 
thirteen  cartridges  in  the  magazine.  I  had  already  risen 
to  my  feet,  and  was  intending  to  arrange  supper  for  them 
as  soon  as  I  saw  them.  So  I  merely  turned  my  face  di- 
rectly towards  them,  and  very  calmly  said:  'Shoot,  if 
you  think  best,  but  as  God  is  my  judge,  I  have  done  you 
no  intentional  injury.'  At  the  same  instant  the  boy 
sprang  directly  between  us,  and  shouted,  with  his  hand 
up :  ' 1  swear  that  Colonel  is  innocent  of  leaving  you ;  I 
am  more  to  blame  than  he,  as  I  urged  him  to  come  on, 
believing  you  were  ahead.' 

4 '  By  this  time  the  men  in  the  other  camp  heard  the 
maniacs  in  their  fury,  and  one  of  them  called  out,  '  What 's 
the  racket  over  there  ?  '  I  responded,  '  Come  over  and  ar- 
bitrate this  difficulty.'  Three  of  the  men  came  at  once, 
but  the  crazy  fool  stood  with  my  gun  in  his  hand,  jabber- 
ing all  kinds  of  nonsense,  refusing  to  listen  to  anything; 
but  he  had  no  1  tenderfeet '  to  deal  with.  One  of  the  men 
walked  straight  up  to  him  and  took  the  gun  out  of  his 
hands,  without  any  resistance  whatever. 

' 1 1  explained  the  situation  to  the  man ;  that  we  saw 
the  two  objects  referred  to,  and  believed  with  all  our 
souls  it  was  the  two  men  preceding  us.  They  claimed 
that  while  creeping  up  on  a  buffalo  bull,  I  fired  the  gun 
to  scare  him  away;  that  they  followed  him  quite  a  ways, 
but  could  not  get  a  shot.  Then  they  came  back  and  saw 
us  about  four  miles  away,  upon  which  they  fired  their 
guns,  and  kept  on  after  us,  remaining  in  sight  nearly  all 
day.  The  old  hunters  could  scarcely  keep  from  laughing 
at  their  excitement  and  jabber  and  ridiculous  conduct. 
They  pitied  them,  and  pacified  them.  Finally  they  ate 
their  supper,  after  which  they  felt  much  better.    I  took 


46 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


possession  of  the  guns,  extracted  all  the  cartridges,  and 
buckled  on  my  belt  of  cartridges  and  revolver,  as  I  did 
not  intend  to  have  any  more  such  foolishness.  The 
strangers  soon  rolled  themselves  in  their  blankets,  and 
were  sound  asleep,  as  no  doubt  it  was  the  biggest  1  tramp ' 
they  ever  took  in  one  day. 

"  The  next  morning  our  friends  from  the  other  camp 
joined  us,  and  all  started  for  the  settlements,  reaching 
the  first  village,  Bull  City,  the  second  day,  where  I  very 
promptly  told  the  men  that  they  had  been  my  guests  long 
enough,  and  drove  on,  glad  that  I  had  disposed  of  them 
so  quickly.  I  think  that  they  had  really  become  de- 
mented, and  not  accountable  for  their  actions,  yet  capa- 
ble of  doing  some  irreparable  damage;  either  that,  or 
they  took  the  opportunity  as  a  pretext  to  kill  me,  and 
confiscate  my  team  and  outfit  for  their  own  use.  The 
only  thing  that  protected  me  was  the  camp  being  so  near 
by.  The  fact  of  others  being  near  by  was  unknown  to  the 
desperadoes  until  the  call  came  from  the  other  camp. 

' '  This  was  the  last  hunt  I  ever  made  with  entire  stran- 
gers." 


CHAPTER  V 


BUFFALO  ADAPTED  TO  EVERY  ENVIRONMENT  —  WHY  NOT  DO- 
MESTICATE THEM?  THE  LAST  OPPORTUNITY  RESOLVED 

TO  TRY  THE  FIRST  CALF-HUNT  FORDING  THE  ARKANSAS 

RIVER  FULL  OF  ICE  A  LONG  WAY  FROM  CIVILIZATION  

"  GREAT   HEAVENS!    AN   ELEPHANT,   SURE  !  "  KILLS  THE 

LARGEST  BUFFALO  ANIGHT  SEARCH  FOR  WATER  AFRAID 

OF   ATTRACTING    INDIANS,   THE   WATCHMAN  EXTINGUISHES 

THE    BEACON-FIRE  SAFE    IN    CAMP   AGAIN  COL.  JONES 

ENJOYS  SUNRISE  ON  THE  PLAINS,  ALSO  A  "  SCENE  "  BUF- 
FALO DISCOVERED  THROUGH  FIELD-GLASSES  FIRST  AT- 
TEMPT   TO    "RESCUE    THE    PERISHING" — -LASSO    TIED  TO 

HORSE'S  NECK,  OTHER  END  TO  CALF  THE  MOTHER  NEARLY 

IMPALES   THE   HORSE  AND   RIDER  THE    COLONEL  SHOOTS 

THE  COW,  AND  PRESSES  ON  FOR  MORE  HORSE  FALLS,  AND 

HERD   RUSHES    TO   FINISH   HIM  CLINGS    TO   SADDLE  AND 

ESCAPES  CAPTURES    FOUR    CALVES  HORSE    AND  RIDER 

FAMISHING  FOR  WATER  MILES  FROM  CAMP  COMPAN- 
ION LED  ASTRAY  BY  MIRAGE  DESPERATE  RACE  FOR  CALF 

 PENETRATES  THE  LLANO  ESTACADO  COMPANIONS  RE- 
FUSE TO  FOLLOW  DARE  NOT  RETURN  WITHOUT  A  GUIDE 

 FOOLED  SO  OFTEN  BY  MIRAGE,  DO  NOT  RECOGNIZE  WATER 

 COMPANION  LOWERED  INTO  THE  CANADIAN  RIVER  ROPE 

SLIPS — "THE    SUN    GOES    DOWN    ON    HIS    WRATH" — LAST 

HERD   DISCOVERED  CAPTURED  FOURTEEN   CALVES  THE 

COLONEL  SHEDS  HIS  GARMENTS  TO  PROTECT  THEM  HERD 

OF  WHITE  BUFFALO  LONG  JOURNEY  HOME 

IN  March,  1886,  after  the  unprecedented  and  wide-area 
"  blizzard  "  of  the  preceding  winter,  Colonel  Jones,  in 
his  itinerary,  says  :  "As  I  drove  over  the  prairies  from 
Kansas  into  Texas,  I  saw  thousands  upon  thousands  of 
the  carcasses  of  domestic  cattle  which  had  i  drifted  '  before 

(47) 


48 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


the  chilling,  freezing  4  norther.'  Every  one  of  them  had 
died  with  its  tail  to  the  blizzard,  never  having  stopped  ex- 
cept at  its  last  breath,  then  fell  dead  in  its  tracks.  When  I 
reached  the  habitat  of  the  buffalo,  not  one  of  their  car- 
casses was  visible,  except  those  which  had  been  slain  by 
hunters.  Every  animal  I  came  across  was  as  nimble  and 
wiry  as  a  fox.  As  Watts  meditated  over  the  mystery  of 
steam  lifting  the  lid  of  the  teakettle,  I  commenced  to 
ponder  upon  the  contrast  between  the  qualities  of  the 
white  man's  domestic  cattle  and  those  of  the  red  man's 
cattle  (buffalo).  Young  Watts  exclaimed,  as  he  watched 
the  effect  of  the  powerful  vapor,  '  Why  not  chain  this 
great  giant  ?  '  I  thought  to  myself,  '  Why  not  domesticate 
this  wonderful  beast  which  can  endure  such  a  "  blizzard," 
defying  a  storm  so  destructive  to  our  domestic  species  ? 
Why  not  infuse  this  hardy  blood  into  our  native  cattle, 
and  have  a  perfect  animal,  one  that  will  defy  all  these  ele- 
ments ?  '  I  was  in  the  right  mood  to  thus  soliloquize  and 
appreciate  an  animal  which  could  withstand  such  a  ter- 
rific ordeal,  having  personally  suffered  severe  losses  in  the 
great  storm  of  the  previous  winter.  I  had  been  caught  out 
in  it  myself  at  its  beginning,  while  hunting  antelope.  The 
wind  blew  a  perfect  hurricane ;  the  snow  was  twisted  and 
hurled  in  all  directions,  until  its  initial  mass,  a  foot  in 
depth  at  least,  was  blown  into  the  air,- leaving  the  ground 
bare,  where  it  was  completely  pulverized  by  the  energy  of 
the  contending  elements  into  an  impalpable  powder,  fill- 
ing the  lungs  of  everything  animate;  drifting  through 
their  hair,  alternately  melting  and  freezing,  until  horses, 
mules  and  domestic  cattle  perished  by  tens  of  thousands. 
Woe  unto  the  man  who  chanced  to  be  caught  in  its  mad 
career !  Many  did  it  overtake  who  yielded  to  its  fury.  By 
good  luck,  familiar  with  the  nature  of  these  terrible  storms, 
I  made  my  way  to  a  '  claim-shanty,'  leaving  five  dead  an- 
telope on  the  prairie,  not  daring  to  linger  a  minute  to 
gather  them  in.  I  was  just  in  time  to  save  myself  and 
team. 


BUFFALO  ADAPTED  TO  EVERY  ENVIRONMENT  49 

"  I  remained  there  as  long  as  the  fearful  storm  lasted, 
—  two  nights  and  a  day, —  and  saw  everything  had  to  be 
protected  or  yield  to  its  fury.  Imagine  my  astonishment 
when  I  discovered  that  the  buffalo  alone  were  exempt; 
and  I  then  commenced  to  calculate  the  worth  of  this  re- 
markable but  almost  extinct  animal.  With  my  pencil  I 
noted  these  points  :  '  The  buffalo  is  king  of  the  blizzard ; 
he  was  constructed  for  the  fitful  climate  of  th&  Great 
Plains ;  he  was  made  for  the  use  of  a  race  that  had  noth- 
ing else  to  depend  upon,  and  must  surely  be  nearly  a  per- 
fect creation.  His  flesh  is  far  superior  to  that  of  any 
domestic  animal  under  similar  conditions ;  his  robe  is  a 
'  solid  comfort '  when  the  wintry  blasts  howl.  The  hair 
of  the  animal's  head  and  forehead  is  heavy  and  springy, 
serving  perfectly  the  office  of  a  mattress  and  pillow.  Its 
tallow  is  as  rich  and  palatable  as  butter;  the  flesh,  when 
dried,  serves  for  bread;  the  hide,  when  tanned,  makes 
good  shoes,  rope,  and  leather.  Its  fur  is  softer  than 
lamb's  wool,  and  when  woven  into  cloth  is  the  lightest 
and  warmest  fabric  ever  manufactured.  The  under  fur  is 
like  swan's  down,  and  makes  a  perfectly  waterproof  hat 
when  converted  into  that  article.  The  rain  is  shed  from 
it  as  rapidly  as  from  a  duck's  back;  it  is  this  wise  provi- 
sion of  nature  so  close  to  their  bodies  which  keeps  the 
animal  constantly  dry  and  warm.  While  domestic  cat- 
tle are  stricken  down  by  the  deadly  venom  of  the  rattle- 
snake, the  buffalo  receive  its  fangs  in  the  long  hair  and 
wool' covering  their  head  and  legs,  and  then  trample  the 
serpents  into  the  earth  with  their  sharp  hoofs.  Its  fleece 
may  be  carded  off  every  spring,  after  having  fulfilled  its 
purpose  of  a  winter's  protection  to  the  animal,  woven 
into  the  finest  fabrics,  knitted  into  hosiery,  and  made 
into  robes  and  blankets  which  kings  and  princes  delight 
to  recline  under. 

"  'The  buffalo's  endurance  is  marvelous;  as  a  beast  of 
burden  it  has  no  superior.  The  milk  of  the  buffalo  cow 
is  infinitely  richer  than  that  of  the  Jersey.  The  buffalo 
—  4 


50  .  FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 

are  decidedly  clannish ;  they  do  not  stray  away,  neither 
can  they  be  driven  off  their  range  by  the  severest  "  bliz- 
zard," and,  in  contradistinction  to  the  domestic  steer, 
always  face  the  storm. 

"  '  Their  sense  of  smell  is  so  keen,  they  can  tell  where  a 
rich  bunch  of  grass  is,  though  buried  a  foot  deep  under 
the  snow.  They  root  in  snow  like  a  razor-back  hog  after 
artichokes.  The  severest  winter  has  no  pangs  for  these 
patient  brutes.  Their  sinews  serve  as  thread  for  heavy 
sewing;  their  horns  make  excellent  goblets,  receptacles 
for  powder,  and  beautiful  buttons.  Their  fur  spun  into 
yarn  affords  the  best  material  for  hosiery  and  underwear. 
Their  bones  can  be  converted  into  handles  for  ladles 
and  cutlery.  When  ground,  they  furnish  the  best  fertil- 
izer for  an  impoverished  soil;  when  charred,  are  used  by 
sugar-works  in  the  process  of  refining. 

"  'Where,  then,  is  the  animal  to  be  found  which  can 
compare  with  the  buffalo,  the  rejected  buffalo?  "  The 
stone  which  the  builders  rejected  has  become  the  chief 
corner-stone."  So  it  is  with  the  buffalo:  when  we  have 
fitted  it  to  its  proper  sphere,  it  is  the  chief  of  all  rumi- 
nants. I  will  chain  him,  and  domesticate  a  race  of  cattle 
equal  to,  if  not  superior  to  all  ruminants  heretofore 
known.  I  will  attire  myself  entirely  in  clothing  made 
from  the  product  of  the  buffalo 1 ;  even  the  buttons  of  my 
clothes  shall  be  made  of  horns  and  hoofs  of  that  wonder- 
ful animal.  I  will  not  rely  on  the  ravens  for  my  "food 
and  raiment,"  and  all  may  rest  assured  I  will  never  suffer 
from  the  howling  blizzards  nor  for  meat  go  hungry.'  " 

The  24th  of  April,  1886,  was  a  bleak,  cold  day.  Early 
that  morning,  Colonel  Jones,  Charley  Rude  and  Mr.  New- 
ton Adams  harnessed  up  a  team  of  three-year-old  mules 
to  a*  light  spring  wagon,  and  a  heavier  span  to  an  ordi- 
nary lumber  wagon,  determined  to  experiment  with  the 
bounding  buffalo. 

1  See  frontispiece  to  this  chapter. 


COLONEL  JONES  DRESSED  IN  GARMENTS  PRODUCED  FROM 
FUR  OF  BUFFALO  AND  CATALO. 


DEPARTURE  FOR  THE  HUNT 


51 


Their  point  of  departure  was  the  little  hamlet  of  Ken- 
dall, on  the  Arkansas  river,  in  Hamilton  county,  Kansas, 
forty  miles  east  of  the  west  line  of  the  State.  Here  the 
Arkansas  is  a  very  treacherous  stream,  about  half  a  mile 
wide,  never  exceeding  five  feet  in  depth,  with  a  quicksand 
bottom.  The  several  channels  continuously  change,  mak- 
ing its  passage  fraught  with  danger,  particularly  in  the 
spring.  There  were  no  bridges  in  the  region  then,  conse- 
quently the  only  means  of  crossing  was  by  fording.  The 
slush-ice  was  thick,  the  water  about  three  feet  deep  on 
an  average,  although  in  places  the  mules  were  off  their 
feet.  It  was  a  hazardous  undertaking  to  venture  into  the 
stream — cold,  swift,  and  surging  with  ice  —  especially  with 
only  one  span  of  animals,  drawing  a  heavy  load  of  corn, 
flour,  bacon,  and  other  provisions  for  man  and  beast  dur- 
ing a  six-weeks  expedition. 

Kendall  is  the  town  built  up  on  the  product  of  its  won- 
derful stone-quarries.  Colonel  Jones  had  a  force  of  men 
with  very  heavy  horses  there,  getting  out  the  crude  rock 
for  his  famous  "  marble  block  "  he  was  then  constructing 
at  his  home  in  Garden  City ;  so  he  ordered  two  teams  of' 
his  immense  animals  to  be  hooked  ahead  of  the  mules. 
Then,  gathering  up  the  lines  himself,  and  telling  the  man 
who  brought  the  horses  to  "  climb  on,"  he  cracked  his 
whip  over  the  six  animals,  plunged  into  the  raging  river, 
and  was  soon  safe  on  the  other  shore.  Messrs.  Rude  and 
Adams  followed  the  indomitable  Colonel  with  the  spring 
wagon,  and  when  they  arrived  on  the  opposite  bank  the 
extra  horses  were  sent  back  to  the  quarries  by  the  man 
who  had  brought  them  from  their  work. 

The  course  determined  upon  by  the  adventurous  "buf- 
falo-hunter" was  over  the  apparently  interminable  sand- 
hills of  the  region  beyond  the  Arkansas,  thence  southwest 
across  the  plains  and  deserts  of  the  Indian  Territory  and 
the  "  Panhandle"  of  Texas:  a  long,  weary  march,  with 
the  almost  absolute  certainty  of  not  meeting  a  soul  until 
their  return. 


52 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


Day  after  day  for  a  whole  week  the  little  party  strained 
their  eyes  in  the  vain  hope  of  discovering  something 
which  would  relieve  the  tedious  monotony  of  this  weari- 
some journey. 

April  had  almost  vanished ;  the  last  evening  of  the  last 
day  was  rapidly  flitting ;  Colonel  Jones  was  a  half-mile  in 
advance  of  his  companion's  team,  ascending  a  " divide." 
Old  hunter  as  he  was,  he  had  always  made  it  a  rule  when 
on  an  expedition  after  big  game  on  the  Plains,  never  to 
cross  a  ridge  in  a  sitting  position ;  always  standing  up  on 
the  seat,  which  enabled  him  to  see  animals  or  Indians  be- 
fore they  could  discover  his  approach.  Mr.  Rude  was  ly- 
ing in  the  rear  of  the  wagon,  leading  two  saddle-horses, 
spared  from  any  work,  reserved  for  the  chase  when  the 
proper  time  arrived. 

4  4  Great  Heavens!"  suddenly  exclaimed  the  Colonel; 
4 'an  elephant  sure!  "  Then  he  sat  down,  gave  the  off 
horse  a  cut  with  the  whip,  and  whirled  the  team  around 
to  the  left  so  short  and  quickly  that  it  almost  tumbled 
everything  out  of  the  wagon.  Away  he  went  at  ' 'John 
Gilpin ' '  speed  for  about  two  hundred  yards  into  the  ra- 
vine; then  out  he  jumped,  gave  the  lines  to  Mr.  Rude, 
rushed  to  the  crest  of  the  divide  with  his  Winchester, 
and  peeped  over.  In  a  few  minutes,  bang!  came  the  re- 
port of  the  Colonel's  gun.  He  then  beckoned  for  Mr. 
Rude  to  come,  who  immediately  drove  up  the  slope  for 
nearly  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  where  the  Colonel  was  waiting 
for  him.  Three  hundred  yards  beyond  was  a  huge  buf- 
falo bull  lying  on  "all  fours."  He  had  been  instantly 
killed;  never  struggled  a  particle,  or  rolled  over  on  his 
side  as  usual. 

This  was  the  first  buffalo  ever  seen  by  Rude  or  Adams, 
and  they  were  so  excited  at  the  extraordinary  spectacle, 
that,  as  the  Colonel  expresses  it,  "He  could  have  scraped 
off  their  eyes  with  a  stick." 

Mr.  Rude,  who  was  nearly  six  feet  tall,  was  very  par- 
ticular to  "size  up"  the  animal  by  his  own  standard  of 


A  NIGHT   SEARCH   FOR  WATER 


53 


measure.  He  stood  close  to  the  buffalo,  and  could  barely 
see  over  the  immense  animal's  shoulders,  as  it  laid  in  its 
peculiar  position.  About  a  hundred  pounds  of  excellent 
meat  were  saved,  and  the  remarkably  large  head  of  the 
animal  reserved  for  mounting. 

Dallying  with  the  buffalo  until  all  the  daylight  of  April 
had  disappeared,  not  a  drop  of  water  had  been  secured; 
there  was  none  in  camp,  and,  what  was  worse,  none  had 
been  met  with  during  their  last  twenty  miles  of  travel. 
The  horses  were  jaded,  the  men  terribly  thirsty.  What 
was  to  be  done?  Colonel  Jones  kindled  a  fire  of  "  buf- 
falo-chips "  on  the  highest  point  of  the  divide;  then,  he 
taking  one  of  the  saddle-horses  and  Mr.  Rude  the  other, 
leaving  Mr.  Adams  to  keep  up  the  signal,  that  they  might 
not  get  lost,  they  started  on  a  search  for  water.  The  Colo- 
nel was  to  inspect  the  high  plateau,  while  Mr.  Rude  was 
to  follow  the  course  of  the  ravine,  and  each  with  a  pail 
on  his  arm  darted  away  in  the  darkness. 

Hours  rolled  on,  but  no  return  to  camp  of  either.  Mr. 
Adams  became  alarmed,  fearing  the  Indians  had  captured 
both  his  companions ;  so  he  crawled  off  in  the  grass  and 
hid  himself,  allowing  the  fire  to  die  out.  About  eleven 
o'clock  he  heard  the  report  of  a  gun  far  out  on  the  prairie. 
He  became  frantic  with  fear,  for  he  felt  positive  that 
Colonel  Jones  was  killed,  as  the  sound  came  from  the  di- 
rection in  which  he  had  gone  when  he  left  camp. 

Presently  he  heard  another  report,  this  time  due  north, 
immediately  followed  by  two  more  to  the  east.  This 
capped  the  climax  of  his  terrible  fright :  he  now  believed 
that  his  time  had  surely  come. 

Very  soon,  in  his  terror,  he  saw  what  he  supposed  to  be 
an  Indian  riding  a  pony,  passing  by  the  camp.  Then  he 
consoled  himself  with  the  hope  that  all  of  them  (of 
course,  his  imagination  had  peopled  the  entire  prairie 
with  bloodthirsty  savages)  would  go  by  without  discover- 
ing him.  At  this  moment  one  of  the  animals  in  camp 
neighed  at  the  sight  of  the  horse  going  past,  on  which 


54 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


Mr.  Adams  supposed  the  Indian  to  be,  and  in  another 
second  he  heard  a  voice  call  out,  "  Hello,  Adams  !  Where 
are  you  ?  ' ' 

It  was  the  Colonel,  who  had  fired  his  gun  and  had  so 
disturbed  Mr.  Adams's  nerves, —  the  former  expecting  the 
usual  response  of  a  hunter;  but  Mr.  Adams  was  too  thor- 
oughly frightened  to  remember  that  he  should  have  re- 
turned the  report,  if  indeed  he  knew  anything  about  camp 
customs.  His  long  life  on  the  Plains  had  taught  him 
how  to  find  camp,  and  the  Colonel  wandered  into  his 
headquarters  without  the  beacon  he  had  started  on  the 
hill  before  he  left.  The  reports  from  the  north  were  re- 
sponses made  by  Mr.  Rude  to  the  Colonel's  salute,  which 
had  only  added  fuel  to  the  terror  kindled  in  Mr.  Adams's 
breast. 

Colonel  Jones  immediately  renewed  the  "  buffalo-chip  " 
beacon  on  the  top  of  the  hill,  by  the  dull  glare  of  which 
Mr.  Rude  was  guided  to  camp.  He  had  been  more  fortu- 
nate than  the  Colonel  in  their  search  for  water;  for  he 
had  discovered  a  small  pond  on  the  broad  plateau,  while 
the  Colonel  found  not  a  drop  anywhere.  Fortunately,  Mr. 
Rude  had  brought  enough  water  back  with  him  to  quench 
the  thirst  of  the  men,  wet  the  throats  of  the  four  mules, 
and  the  horse  the  Colonel  had  ridden, —  his  own  having 
satisfied  himself  at  the  pond. 

Matters  having  assumed  a  more  satisfactory  shape  so 
far  as  water  was  concerned,  they  began  to  prepare  them- 
selves for  the  remainder  of  the  night. 

A  large  piece  of  the  buffalo  was  deliciously  broiled  on 
the  coals,  superintended  by  the  Colonel,  who  was  perforce 
as  good  a  cook  as  he  was  hunter;  coffee  was  brewed, 
"  slapjacks  "  fried,  and  the  now  comfortable  little  com- 
pany kept  up  a  jolly  time  by  telling  stories,  the  interest 
centering  upon  the  experiences  of  the  Colonel  on  the 
Great  Plains  and  in  the  mountains,  until  long  after  mid- 
night, when  they  rolled  themselves  up  in  their  blankets. 

During  the  conversation  before  the  cheerful  but  small 


ENJOYING  SUNRISE  ON  THE  PLAINS 


55 


campfire,  one  of  the  party  remarked  that  as  the  morrow 
would  be  the  first  of  May,  they  should  inaugurate  a  "  May 
party."  Colonel  Jones  said  that  if  buffalo  were  discov- 
ered he  would  place  the  lasso  1 '  wreath ' '  over  the  head  of 
one,  and  proclaim  it  the  "  Lucky  Knight  "  or  the  "  May 
Queen,"  according  to  sex. 

In  a  few  minutes  every  one  of  the  party  was  lost  in  the 
land  of  dreams,  where  came  exciting  visions  of  chasing 
the  bounding  bison,  or  of  other  strange  experiences,  new 
to  the  two  gentlemen,  who  were  entitled  to  that  purely 
Western  appellation  of  "  tenderfoot,"  (Col.  Jones  had  al- 
ready served  his  time  as  a  "  tenderfoot,")  until  the  gray 
dawn  in  the  east  uncovered  its  eyes. 

While  the  others  were  preparing  breakfast  next  morn- 
ing, Colonel  Jones  took  his  field-glass,  strolled  off  in 
search  of  water,  and  in  a  short  time  discovered,  about 
half  a  mile  to  the  southwest,  a  beautiful  pool  of  the 
purest  and  clearest.  Such  things  frequently  occur: 
parties  "turn  in,"  having  given  up  the  hope  of  finding 
water,  but  in  the  morning  discover  a  fine  spring  or  pool 
close  by.  It  seems  almost  miraculous, — as  if  some  Moses 
had  smitten  the  rock  in  the  night,  as  was  done  in  the 
Desert  of  old.  That  this  find  was  relished  by  man  and 
beast,  anyone  who  has  been  similarly  situated  will  con- 
cede. He  returned  by  way  of  a  very  high  point,  where, 
adjusting  his  powerful  field-glass,  he  could  not  resist 
stopping  to  contemplate  the  magnificent  pastoral  scene 
all  around  him ;  for  the  Colonel  is  a  lover  of  Nature  in 
her  quieter  moods,  as  well  as  in  the  midst  of  an  exciting 
chase  after  her  wildest  and  dangerous  creations.  The  air 
was  so  pure  that  not  a  vapor  streaked  the  dawn,  so  that 
he  could  see  over  a  vast  area.  He  who  has  never  been 
alone  on  the  Great  Plains  and  looked  across  a  magnificent 
stretch  of  prairie  at  the  moment  of  sunrise,  cannot  com- 
prehend the  thrill  of  emotion  which  fills  one's  soul  as  he 
gazes  upon  such  a  scene.  There  is  positively  no  obstruc- 
tion to  the  vision  except  the  convexity  of  the  earth,  com- 


56 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


passing  a  landscape  which  is  bewildering  in  its  vastness. 
Colonel  Jones  stood  entranced  as  he  drank  in  the  variety 
and  charming  features  of  the  panorama,  which  only  ended 
in  the  deep  blue  of  the  horizon,  while  imagination  took 
him  beyond  and  to  the  "  happy  hunting-grounds"  of  the 
Unknown.  Little  groups  of  antelope  were  either  grazing, 
or,  having  completed  their  morning  repast,  were  rumi- 
nating in  the  sunny  ravines ;  bands  of  wild  horses  were 
gamboling  on  the  green  hillsides ;  while  here  and  there  a 
wolf  or  coyote  that  had  not  yet  finished  its  nocturnal 
prowling,  slowly  moved  toward  its  den  of  seclusion  as  the 
sun  rose  in  fullness  of  beauty  and  splendor.  Far  in  the 
distance  was  a  herd  of  perhaps  twenty  monstrous  buffalo, 
unconscious  of  the  fact  that  so  near  was  an  individual 
who  had  enlisted  his  best  efforts  in  "rescuing  the  perish- 
ing" from  annihilation.  How  slowly  they  move!  —  in 
single  file,  towards  their  sequestered  nooks,  where  the 
grass  is  thick  and  tender.  Now  the  Colonel  became  in- 
tensely interested  in  this  group  of  shaggy  monsters,  as 
the  light  glinted  upon  their  huge  bodies.  He  earnestly 
gazed  through  his  glass  to  detect,  if  possible,  if  calves 
were  among  them,  as  he  did  not  care  for  the  grown  ani- 
mals. What  he  desired  was  the  young  bison,  to  raise  at 
his  ranch,  and  thus  perpetuate  the  species.  But  the  group 
was  so  far  away,  the  glass  was  not  powerful  enough  to  dis- 
cern any  baby  buffaloes.  There  might  be  a  hundred  there, 
but  the  fact  could  not  be  determined,  except  by  going 
nearer  to  them. 

Upon  this  decision  the  Colonel  returned  to  camp.  With 
the  animals  all  watered,  breakfast  was  hurriedly  disposed 
of,  and  soon  the  party  was  on  its  way  to  where  the  buffalo 
had  been  seen,  leaving  Mr.  Adams  to  keep  camp.  The 
Colonel  guided,  as  usual,  riding  in  the  light  wagon,  lead- 
ing his  Kentucky  thoroughbred,  already  saddled  and 
bridled,  with  lasso  carefully  wound  around  the  horn  of 
the  saddle,  and  plenty  of  small  rope  to  bind  the  calves, 
if  any  were  found  in  the  herd. 


FIRST  ATTEMPT  AT  CATCHING  BUFFALO  CALVES  57 

Mile  after  mile  was  traveled,  until  about  ten  o'clock 
they  arrived  at  the  crest  of  a  high  divide,  where  to  the 
northwest,  far  beyond  in  a  wide  valley,  a  herd  of  twenty 
buffaloes  were  discovered, —  the  same  first  seen  by  the 
Colonel  in  the  early  morning,  which  by  this  time,  having 
filled  themselves  with  the  nutritious  grass,  were  lying 
down  for  their  midday  rest.  Here  the  team  was  imme- 
diately turned  to  the  left,  into  a  ravine  opening  into  a 
larger  one,  situated  between  the  buffalo  and  their  pur- 
suers. Arriving  at  the  larger  ravine,  a  turn  into  it  at 
the  right  was  made,  until  another  ravine  from  the  west 
was  encountered.  Turning  into  it,  the  most  precaution- 
ary measures  were  adopted.  The  wind  was  blowing  from 
the  south,  and  it  would  not  do  to  permit  the  scent  of  the 
party  to  be  wafted  in  the  direction  of  the  herd,  for  buffalo 
will  more  quickly  stampede  at  the  smell  of  objects  ap- 
proaching them,  than  by  actual  sight  of  the  disturbing 
element :  and  the  odor  of  a  white  man  is  particularly  ob- 
noxious to  them. 

It  would  not  do  for  the  wagons  to  proceed  farther,  as 
the  rattle  of  its  wheels  would  certainly  alarm  the  herd. 
Colonel  Jones  then  cautiously  took  his  horse  by  the  reins, 
drew  up  the  cinch,  and  gave  Rude  orders  to  keep  up  and 
gather  in  the  calves  if  any  should  be  caught;  to  lay  on 
the  lash,  and  be  sure  not  to  lose  sight  of  him. '  Then  he 
led  the  horse  as  near  as  he  dared  without  danger  of  detec- 
tion, quickly  mounted,  laid  flat  upon  the  animal,  and 
galloped  directly  toward  the  buffalo.  Every  detail  of  the 
Colonel's  methods  worked  like  a  charm.  If  he  had  sat 
erect  upon  his  horse  the  herd  would  have  become  fright- 
ened at  once,  and  been  out  of  sight  in  a  few  moments. 
He  did  not  deviate  from  a  straight  line  in  the  slightest. 
To  the  buffalo,  the  object  they  saw  was  only  a  wild  horse, 
looking  at  it  as  a  very  familiar  sight;  for  buffalo  and 
other  wild  animals  are  not  able  to  distinguish  a  moving 
object  from  a  stationary  one,  particularly  if  it  is  coming 
directly  toward  them. 


58 


FORTY  YEARS    OF  ADVENTURES 


Nearer  and  nearer  the  Colonel  approached  the  herd, 
until  he  was  within  two  hundred  yards  of  them,  when 
they  then  commenced  to  rise  and  move  slowly  away.  To 
his  infinite  delight,  as  the  buffalo  stood  up,  the  Colonel 
saw  four  tawny  calves  among  them,  which  had  been  hid- 
den from  his  view  before,  so  completely  were  they  masked 
by  their  mothers,  nestled  close  to  their  great  shaggy 
bodies.  In  an  instant  confusion  ran  riot  with  the  herd; 
away  went  the  animals,  all  going  to  the  northeast,  as  if 
they  had  been  shot  out  of  a  cannon. 

By  this  time  Mr.  Rude  had  arrived  with  his  mules  at 
the  top  of  the  hill,  from  which  commanding  position  he 
could  grasp  the  whole  exciting  scene,  and  take  in  every 
feature  of  the  chase.  Being  an  expert  artist,  he  drew 
the  faithful  sketch  which  will  be  found  on  another  page. 

Colonel  Jones  was  in  excellent  condition  to  do  good 
work  that  morning.  Getting  so  near  the  herd  before  it 
started,  and  mounted  on  his  best  Kentucky  runner,  it  was 
a  combination  of  strategy  and  luck.  Fearing  that  when 
he  dismounted  to  tie  a  calf  his  horse  might  get  frightened 
and  leave  him,  he  had  fastened  one  end  of  the  lasso  around 
his  animal's  neck,  so  he  could  be  sure  of  keeping  the  horse 
from  stampeding  while  binding  the  captive. 

As  soon  as  the  Colonel  closed  up  to  the  surprised  ani- 
mals, they  ran  all  the  faster.  Mark  how  the  cows  pro- 
tect their  calves,  sheltering  them  almost  under  their 
shaggy  bodies!  Bat  old  "  Kentuck  "  was  in  his  prime, 
and  swept  down  upon  the  buffalo  like  a  wolf  on  a  wan- 
dering lamb.  Now  see  the  lasso,  whirling  in  mid-air, 
from  skillful  hand;  away  it  goes,  into  the  midst  of  the 
fleeting  shadows  of  the  frightened  animals ;  the  horse 
comes  to  a  sudden  halt;  a  tawny  calf  is  rearing  and 
plunging  at  the  end  of  the  rope  in  its  frantic  struggles 
to  escape  the  fatal  snare.  It  is  in  vain ;  in  an  instant 
the  Colonel  is  on  the  ground,  grasps  the  little  brute,  and 
in  some  three  distinct  motions  lashes  its  hind  legs  close 
up  to  its  neck,  slips  the  noose  from  its  head,  and  with  a 


MOTHER  TRIES  TO   RESCUE   HER  CALF 


59 


single  bound  that  would  have  done  credit  to  the  most 
nimble  circus-rider,  is  firm  in  the  saddle  again,  and 
"  Kentuck  "  dashing  after  the  hurriedly  retreating  herd. 
See  how  the  blooded  horse  sweeps  over  the  prairie !  At 
every  jump  the  sod  and  dust  are  whirled  thirty  feet  high 
in  air,  to  land  on  the  ground  a  hundred  yards  in  his  rear. 
What  a  wonderful  picture !  Scenes  rivaling  the  chariot- 
racing  in  the  Roman  Coliseum  of  old !  Every  hope  of 
success  now  depended  upon  the  endurance  of  the  thor- 
oughbred ;  like  a  hawk  swooping  down  on  its  prey  did  the 
noble  steed  again  close  in  on  the  flying  herd.  Now  the 
lasso  once  more  is  whirled  into  the  air ;  it  shoots  out  like 
a  cat's  paw,  and  rakes  in  another  calf!  Its  musical  voice 
could  be  heard  distinctly  by  Mr.  Rude.  The  Colonel  was 
off  as  quickly  as  before,  but  as  he  was  binding  this  second 
victim  of  his  prowess,  he  heard  a  loud  grunt  accompanied 
by  a  terrible  rattling  of  hoofs,  immediately  in  his  rear. 
Looking  up  to  discover  the  cause  of  the  strange  commo- 
tion, he  saw  the  mother  of  the  calf,  who,  having  heard 
her  offspring  bleating  in  its  fright,  was  coming  to  its  res- 
cue, with  her  eyes  green  as  an  angry  tiger's,  and  hair  all 
turned  the  wrong  way.  Under  the  impulse  of  the  ma- 
ternal instinct,  she  was  swelled  with  righteous  indigna- 
tion and  deliberate  determination  to  rescue  her  baby  or 
die  in  the  attempt, —  apparently  feeling  as  competent  to 
crush  the  daring  robber  as  if  every  hair  on  her  body  was 
a  keen  lance  and  her  horns  of  Damascus  steel.  Discre- 
tion at  this  serious  juncture  was  better  than  valor ;  with 
a  bound  that  surprised  the  Colonel  himself,  he  threw  his 
body  into  the  saddle  and  sunk  both  spurs  into  Kentuck 's 
flanks,  upon  which  the  horse  darted  off  like  a  flash,  with 
the  enraged  cow  in  close  pursuit. 

In  an  instant  the  end  of  the  rope  was  reached ;  Kentuck 
whirled  into  the  air  like  a  small  boy's  top,  as  the  other 
end  was  still  around  the  calf's  neck.  There  was  no  time 
to  unfasten  the  rope  from  the  horse's  neck,  as  the  cow  had 
already  passed  him,  and  was  fixing  herself  for  another 


60 


FORTY  YEARS    OF  ADVENTURES 


charge.  All  that  could  be  done  under  the  peculiar  cir- 
cumstances in  which  the  Colonel  found  himself,  was  to 
run  Kentuck  in  a  circle,  using  the  calf  for  a  pivot,  or,  if 
possible,  shoot  the  cow.  Bang  !  bang  !  bang  !  came  three 
reports  successively  from  the  Colonel's  forty-five  double- 
action  revolver,  which  he  always  carried  on  hunting  expe- 
ditions ;  but  still  the  cow  came  nearer  and  nearer.  The 
gallant  hunter  realized  the  fact  that  there  remained  only 
two  charges  in  the  chambers  of  his  weapon  with  which  to 
do  the  work ;  so  he  collected  his  nerve  and  waited  until 
the  furious  animal  was  almost  within  reach  of  his  horse ; 
then,  leaning  far  back  in  the  saddle,  he  took  deliberate 
aim,  firing  for  the  fourth  time.  The  cow  gave  a  furious 
snort,  and  bounded  away  as  if  a  dynamite  cartridge  had 
exploded  at  her  side.  She  was  hit  high  up  in  the  shoul- 
der, badly  hurt,  but  not  mortally  wounded.  When  she 
had  gotten  off  about  a  hundred  yards,  she  halted,  shook 
her  head,  and  pawed  the  earth.  Colonel  Jones,  taking 
advantage  of  this  lull  in  hostilities,  quickly  slipped  off 
Kentuck,  tied  one  of  the  calf's  hind  legs  close  to  its  neck, 
then  drew  the  noose  from  its  neck,  again  mounted,  and 
started  after  the  fleeting  herd  a  mile  away,  as  deliberately 
as  though  nothing  had  happened.  The  herd  by  this  time 
had  become  heated,  and  their  anger  was  at  the  highest 
pitch. 

Upon  overtaking  them,  he  profited  by  the  lesson  he  had 
just  learned,  and  did  not  attempt  to  throw  the  lasso  over 
another  calf  while  the  rope  was  attached  to  his  horse's 
neck.  So,  reaching  down,  he  attempted  to  untie  it,  but 
the  terrible  strain  it  had  been  subjected  to  during  his 
little  fracas  with  the  cow  had  so  tightened  the  knot  that 
he  found  he  could  not  do  so.  The  Colonel  was  well  aware 
that  if  he  stopped  to  untie  it,  it  would  be  impossible  to 
overtake  the  herd  again,  as  his  horse  was  fast  becoming 
fatigued,  and  not  able  to  make  another  race.  He  con- 
cluded that  if  he  pressed  the  herd  hard  enough  the  old 
buffalo  would  get  away  and  abandon  the  calves,  which 


NARROW  ESCAPE   FROM  DEATH 


61 


they  would  not  do  under  ordinary  circumstances.  He 
then  contented  himself  with  an  occasional  dash  between 
the  calf  and  the  remainder  of  the  herd,  causing  it  to  bleat 
and  beg  for  assistance.  In  every  instance  the  cows  and 
bulls  grunted  in  response,  invariably  turning  completely 
around,  facing  their  enemy  with  a  solid  front  of  sharp- 
horned  and  vicious-looking  heads,  coming  in  the  very  im- 
personation of  brute  rage  to  the  rescue  of  their  little  one. 
The  Colonel  then  determined  to  resort  to  the  expedient 
of  catching  one  of  the  calves  with  his  hands,  so  he  could 
hurriedly  let  it  go  if  the  herd  pressed  too  closely.  Reach- 
ing over  to  the  right,  as  they  dashed  over  the  prairie,  he 
succeeded  in  effecting  what  he  had  determined  upon,  by 
grasping  the  tail  of  one  of  the  calves  ;  (  buffalo  always  run 
with  their  tails  curved  over  their  backs,  ' '  like  scorpions . ' ' ) 
The  well-trained  Kentuck  knew  that  whenever  his  rider 
leaned  to  the  right  or  to  the  left  it  was  a  signal  to  turn 
in  that  direction.  So,  when  the  Colonel  leaned  to  the 
right  to  grasp  the  tail  of  the  calf,  the  horse  promptly 
turned  in  that  direction,  unfortunately  striking  the 
calf  with  his  feet, —  and  in  an  instant  horse,  rider  and 
young  buffalo  were  tumbled  in  a  confused  mass  on  the 
ground ! 

The  calf  bellowed  lustily,  half  scared  to  death,  upon 
which  cry  for  help  nineteen  of  the  infuriated  bulls  and 
cows  started  for  the  intrepid  but  reckless  Colonel  with  all 
the  intensity  of  concentrated  wrath.  He  at  once  realized 
the  terrible  predicament  he  was  in,  but  his  inevitable 
coolness  in  time  of  danger  did  not  forsake  him  in  this 
instance.  Striking  the  horse  a  terrific  cut  with  the  rope, 
which  brought  him  to  his  feet  and  senses  in  a  second, 
away  he  dashed  with  his  master  clinging  to  the  saddle, 
out  of  the  way  of  the  impending  clash  of  the  charging 
buffalo.  It  was  a  "  close  call,"  to  employ  a  Western  ex- 
pression indicative  of  escape  from  almost  certain  death ; 
but  Fortune  favored  the  hunter  that  day,  as  she  has  many 
times  since,  and  the  buffalo  were  doubly  enraged  and  no 


62 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


doubt  disgusted  upon  arriving  at  the  spot  where  the  calf 
stood,  to  find  their  enemy  vanished  like  a  mirage. 

These  two  thrilling  experiences,  so  closely  following 
each  other,  did  not  abate  one  jot  of  the  Colonel's  usual 
44  nerve  "  :  in  a  moment,  like  Wellington  at  the  battle  of 
Waterloo,  it  was  "Up,  Guards,  and  at  them  !  "  Again, 
as  soon  as  he  could  straighten  out  matters,  he  dashed 
into  the  herd,  running  it  until  one  calf,  exhausted,  was 
far  in  the  rear.  He  pressed  the  old  buffalo  at  such  a  rate 
that  they  were  soon  so  far  away  they  could  not  hear  it 
bleat.  He  then  deliberately  whirled  his  horse  about,  gal- 
loped back  and  met  the  calf,  threw  the  lasso  around  its 
neck,  dismounted,  tied  it,  and  started  for  the  other,  the 
last  calf.  By  careful  tactics  he  succeeded  in  overtaking  the 
herd,  and  the  last  calf  and  its  mother  were  separated  from 
the  herd,  when,  with  the  last  load  in  his  revolver,  he  so 
wounded  the  cow  that  she  was  unable  to  keep  up  with  her 
young  one,  and  throwing  the  lasso  over  it,  he  captured  the 
coveted  prize. 

Three  very  exciting  hours  had  just  passed  in  the  intense 
desperate  struggle  to  secure  what  he  had  determined  to 
do.  The  sun  under  the  semi-tropical  skies  of  the  region 
was  terrific;  both  the  Colonel  and  his  wonderful  horse 
were  so  worn  out,  that,  after  resting  for  a  few  moments, 
they  were  so  stiff  that  neither  could  make  any  rapid  move- 
ment. What  was  to  be  done  ?  Mr.  Rude  was  nowhere  to 
be  seen,  although  he  had  received  positive  orders  to  run 
his  mules  under  the  lash,  and  gather  the  calves  as  he  came 
to  them.  The  Colonel  led  his  horse,  after  the  animal  had 
recuperated  somewhat,  to  the  crest  of  a  high  hill,  hoping 
to  discover  Mr.  Rude  somewhere  in  sight;  but  all  was  a 
vast  prairie,  devoid  of  everything  animate  except  a  large 
herd  of  antelope  and  a  small  band  of  wild  horses  in  the 
far  southwest. 

A  close  estimate  of  the  distance  from  the  point  at 
which  he  had  left  Mr.  Rude,  also  to  camp,  was  made. 
He  found  it  to  be  for  the  former  about  fifteen  miles  and 


MILES  FROM  CAMP,  WITHOUT  WATER 


63 


the  latter  twenty-five  on  a  bee  line,  or  forty  to  camp,  by 
the  circuitous  way  in  which  he  had  come.  It  was  nearly 
the  middle  of  the  afternoon  now ;  to  go  straight  to  camp 
would  take  until  midnight  to  reach  it  on  foot,  if  at  all, 
that  day.  His  tongue  was  already  parched  and  swollen  ; 
there  was  an  abundance  of  water  in  the  wagon  which  Mr. 
Rude  drove,  if  he  could  only  be  found.  On  the  Great 
Plains,  ninety-nine  men  out  of  a  hundred  would  become 
bewildered  under  the  circumstances,  lose  their  course  on 
seeing  the  spectral  lakes  of  the  weird  1 'mirage,"  and 
either  follow  them,  or  travel  miles  out  of  the  way  to 
avoid  them,  until  all  idea  of  the  right  direction  were  ab- 
solutely forgotten.  The  Colonel  plodded  along  on  foot, 
—  all  there  was  left  for  him  to  do, —  dragging  his  horse 
after  him,  until  the  faithful  animal  absolutely  refused  to 
go  any  farther.  He  then  took  off  the  saddle,  tied  the  ex- 
hausted horse  to  it,  and  started  on  foot  in  search  of  Mr. 
Rude,  and  plodded  along  for  two  long  hours. 

Reader,  imagine  yourself  in  the  Colonel's  situation :  no 
doubt  left  to  perish,  perhaps,  as  miserably  as  Jonah's 
gourd,  "for  the  want  of  water"  !  Still  the  old  hunter's 
courage  did  not  flag  for  an  instant,  although  the  sun  was 
rapidly  approaching  the  western  horizon.  Just  at  this 
juncture  he  suddenly  saw  an  object  far  away  to  the  south, 
moving  directly  east,  which  his  keen  eye  made  out  to  be 
Mr.  Rude. 

He  commenced  to  run  as  fast  as  he  was  able  toward 
him,  but  failed  to  attract  his  attention  until  he  almost 
overtook  him.  He  was  driving  straight  for  an  antelope 
more  than  a  mile  away,  which  was  standing  still,  looking 
back  at  him  with  that  animal's  curiosity ;  and  this  Mr. 
Rude  said  he  thought  was  a  man  on  horseback.  He  was 
completely  "  turned  around"  and  bewildered;  had  not 
the  remotest  idea  of  where  he  was ;  and  it  would  have 
been  doubtful  if  he  could  ever  find  his  way  back  to  camp, 
if  the  Colonel  had  not  opportunely  come  up  with  him. 
The  keg  of  water  was  soon  tested ;  "  the  sweetest  and  best 


64 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


beverage  ever  drank  by  mortal  man,"  as  the  Colonel 
afterwards  expressed  it,  rivaling  the  sweet  springs  of 
Bethsaida. 

Mr.  Rude  had  gathered  in  the  first  calf,  and  driven  up 
to  the  second  one,  which  had  caused  the  Colonel  so  much 
trouble;  but,  having  only  one  leg  tied  in  the  terrible 
struggle,  it  would  hobble  around  in  such  a  vexing  manner 
whenever  he  attempted  to  approach  it,  that  it  scared  the 
mules,  and  they  reared  and  plunged  on  nearing  it  so  that  he 
could  not  secure  it  at  all.  He  decided  to  remain  there  and 
watch  the  obstreperous  little  brute  until  the  Colonel  re- 
turned, if  he  stayed  a  month, — which  was  in  one  sense 
commendable,  in  another,  almost  fatal.  However,  as  night 
began  to  throw  its  coming  shadows  over  the  landscape, 
his  courage,  like  that  of  Bob  Acres,  " oozed  out,"  and  he 
determined  to  go  in  search  of  the  Colonel.  Mr.  Rude 
was  far  from  lacking  in  pluck,  but  the  feeling  of  utter 
loneliness,  which  only  those  who  have  been  lost  on  the 
Great  Plains  can  appreciate,  was  too  trying,  and  it  was  no 
sense  of  cowardice  that  drove  him  to  the  wise  conclusion 
of  "  getting  out  of  there  "  and  joining  the  Colonel  if  pos- 
sible. 

Colonel  Jones,  after  overtaking  Mr.  Rude,  satisfying 
his  inordinate  thirst,  and  lecturing  the  delinquent  in  a 
mild  way,  took  the  lines  and  drove  rapidly  back  to  where 
he  had  left  Kentuck.  Arriving  there,  the  noble  animal 
neighed  in  recognition  of  his  master's  approach,  who  at 
once  gave  him  a  pailful  of  the  delicious  water,  which  soon 
brought  the  normal  fire  again  into  the  wearied  horse's 
eyes. 

Both  men  then  busied  themselves  in  gathering  up  the 
calves,  and  by  dark  were  headed  for  camp,  twenty  miles 
away,  over  an  unknown  country.  The  clouds  were  omi- 
nously scudding  over  the  heavens,  indicative  of  a  pros- 
pectively gloomy  journey;  but  if  any  man  could  drive  on 
a  "crow  line  "  at  night,  Colonel  Jones  was  he.  His  con- 
fidence in  himself  under  such  circumstances  was  un- 


CARING  FOR  THE  CALVES 


65 


bounded,  for  the  reason  that  he  could,  instinctively  or 
intuitively,  at  all  times,  by  day  or  by  night,  in  sunshine 
or  in  storm,  take  the  proper  bearings  of  the  course  he  de- 
sired to  make;  could,  without  any  apparent  effort,  give 
the  exacts  points  of  the  compass, —  a  gift  of  which  very 
few  men  are  possessed,  but  invaluable  to  the  hunter. 

They  traveled  until  ten  o'clock  in  the  exact  direction 
first  indicated  by  the  Colonel,  when  a  bright  light  shone 
on  the  distant  prairie,  which  made  the  hearts  of  the  two 
weary  and  hungry  souls  beat  fast  with  joy,  as  they  had 
eaten  nothing  since  breakfast,  and  had  no  bedding  with 
them.  The  fire  they  saw  was  an  effort  of  Mr.  Adams, 
who  had  been  left  in  camp  early  in  the  morning,  when 
the  buffalo  were  first  sighted.  He  had  been  so  terribly 
guyed  by  his  comrades  the  night  previously  for  letting 
the  signal  on  the  hilltop  go  out,  he  was  determined  not 
to  be  found  derelict  on  this  occasion  ;  so  he  had  piled  on 
an  extra  supply  of  fuel,  the  sight  of  which  was  so  suggest- 
ive of  supper  and  a  warm  bed  to  the  weary  and  benighted 
hunters. 

Arriving  at  camp  in  a  short  time,  the  first  thought  was 
for  the  care  of  the  calves  which  had  cost  so  much  time 
and  trouble.  They  had  become  very  restless  during  the 
last  hour,  constantly  bawling  for  their  mothers,  in  a  not 
very  rhythmical  strain.  Two  heavy  stakes  sixty  feet  apart 
were  driven  into  the  ground,  to  which  a  long  rope  was 
stretched  tightly,  and  in  which,  at  a  distance  of  sixteen 
feet  from  one  another,  a  light  rope  was  fastened,  meas- 
uring four  feet  in  length,  to  the  end  of  which  the  calves 
were  tied  by  the  neck.  This  method  admitted  of  a  great 
deal  of  freedom,  relaxing  in  every  direction,  and  putting 
all  obstacles  beyond  the  reach  of  the  vicious  little  brutes ; 
for  if  they  had  been  tied  to  a  post,  wagon,  or  any  other 
substantial  object,  they  would  soon  have  been  killed  by 
battering  themselves  against  it. 

The  next  morning  the  calves  were  inspected  and  chris- 
tened. The  one  which  had  been  the  cause  of  so  much 
—  5 


66 


FOETY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


trouble  to  the  Colonel,  and  whose  mother  had  been  in 
such  a  rage,  rushing  upon  him  so  ferociously,  was  named 
"  Lucky  Knight"  ;  the  other,  which  threw  Kentuck,  and 
possessed  an  amount  of  endurance  really  phenomenal 
during  the  chase  after  her,  "  May  Queen  "  ;  the  first  and 
last  one,  "Robert  Burns"  and  "Grace  Greenwood,"  re- 
spectively. But  the  last  two  named  did  not  survive  the 
tedious  journey  to  the  ranch,  in  Kansas,  while  the  others 
are  among  the  finest  specimens  of  the  buffalo  in  the  Colo- 
nel's famous  herd. 

The  next  morning  the  hunters  wTere  out  bright  and 
early,  as  the  calves  kept  up  such  a  calling  for  their  moth- 
ers there  was  but  little  sleep  to  be  had.  As  soon  as  day- 
light fully  came,  Colonel  Jones  was  scanning  the  country 
for  more  buffalo,  and  was  astonished  at  finding  ten  head 
not  to  exceed  a  mile  away,  and  by  the  use  of  his  glass 
could  see  a  fine  calf  gamboling  around  the  herd.  Very 
soon  he  was  on  his  reserved  steed,  and  dashed  away  for 
the  prize;  but  the  calf  was  a  large,  strong  one,  and  made 
the  chase  one  to  be  remembered.  Once,  twice,  thrice  the 
lasso  was  sent  out  to  ensnare  the  wiry  beast,  but  each 
time  the  calf  would  spurt  forward  and  the  noose  fell 
short  and  only  landed  on  its  back.  The  Colonel  deter- 
mined to  make  one  more  effort  only,  as  his  horse  wras 
nearly  exhausted.  Spurring  his  steed  to  his  utmost,  he 
sent  the  whizzing  lasso  with  all  the  force  he  could  com- 
mand ;  but  the  calf  made  its  usual  effort  just  at  the  crit- 
ical moment,  and  the  noose  fell  short,  striking  on  its 
shoulders,  and  fell  off  to  the  right  side.  However,  as 
fortune  "favors  the  brave,"  the  Colonel  was  rewarded 
after  all  hope  had  vanished,  for  the  right  hind  leg  swept 
into  the  loop  as  he  sped  along,  and  the  skillful  captor  made 
a  quick  jerk  that  fastened  it  in  the  toils.  It  bellowed  lust- 
ily, and  the  herd  of  ten  cows  hastened  to  its  rescue.  They 
surrounded  it,  and  the  fury  that  they  generated  would 
have  made  a  regiment  of  soldiers  retreat,  as  they  were  only 
about  twenty  feet  from  the  Colonel.    As  he  was  holding 


GETTING  WATER  FROM  THE  RIVER 


67 


to  the  rope  desperately  with  his  left,  he  grabbed  his  broad- 
brim hat  with  his  right  hand,  and  sailed  it  into  the  herd. 
It  lit  right  under  one  of  the  cows,  which  made  her  kick 
worse  than  seventeen  mules.  She  gave  a  furious  snort 
and  lurch,  and  made  a  bee  line  for  the  desert,  with  all  the 
others  closely  following,  except  the  calf,  which  was  named 
u  The  Plumed  Knight,"  in  honor  of  James  G.  Blaine,  and 
which,  like  its  namesake,  maintained  the  head  of  the  party 
as  long  as  it  lived. 

The  8d  and  4th  of  May  were  passed  (excepting  a  lim- 
ited reconnoiter,  but  bootless  of  success)  in  taking  the 
calves  to  a  ranch  fifty  miles  to  the  east  for  temporary 
keeping.  On  the  5th  everything  was  in  readiness  to  move 
to  the  southwest.  The  tent,  lumber  wagon,  and  bulk  of 
supplies  were  left  behind,  and  on  the  evening  of  that  day 
the  party  arrived  at  the  north  bank  of  the  South  Cana- 
dian river. 

The  channel  of  this  treacherous  stream  is  deep  in  the 
earth,  its  banks  very  precipitous,  sometimes  rising  almost 
perpendicularly  more  than  a  hundred  feet.  The  animals 
and  men  were  tired,  thirsty,  and  about  worn  out.  The 
ravines  running  into  the  river  were  so  rough  and  deep  that 
it  was  not  possible  to  go  any  farther  up  or  down  the  stream 
that  evening,  and  as  night  was  already  upon  them,  it  was 
a  perplexing  question  what  to  do  in  their  dilemma.  Some- 
thing had  to  be  accomplished,  however,  and  as  usual  the 
Colonel  was  ready  in  case  of  emergency,  and,  full  of  fer- 
tile ideas,  took  the  initiative, —  for  the  others  depended 
upon  him  as  their  Moses.  He  first  ordered  all  the  avail- 
able ropes  to  be  collected,  drove  a  stout  stake  of  timber  in 
the  ground  on  the  edge  of  the  bank,  threw  a  noose  around 
Mr.  Adams's  shoulders,  handed  him  a  pail,  took  one  turn 
of  the  rope  around  the  stake,  and  told  him  to  descend  and 
send  up  a  pailful  of  water.  This  was  a  trying  moment 
for  Mr.  Adams,  but  he  had  all  confidence  in  his  comrades 
at  the  top  of  the  bank,  and  obeyed  gracefully. 

Having  reached  the  surface  of  the  stream,  he  anchored 


68 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


himself  on  a  rock  and  filled  the  pail,  which  was  drawn 
up.  This  was  repeated  several  times,  until  all  the  stock 
was  satisfied.  He  then  fastened  the  rope  around  his  body, 
and  with  a  pailful  of  water  in  his  hand,  was  soon  dang- 
ling in  the  air.  Drawing  him  up  was  not  as  easily  accom- 
plished as  letting  him  down ;  upon  Mr.  Rude  remarking, 
"Adams  must  have  drunk  as  much  as  a  buffalo  cow,"  it 
caused  the  Colonel  to  burst  into  a  laugh,  and  not  another 
inch  could  they  raise  the  swinging,  faithful  Adams.  At 
last,  almost  in  despair,  Colonel  Jones  called  out  to  him  to 
pour  the  water  out  of  his  pail,  which  was  quickly  done. 
There  was  no  water  for  coffee  as  yet,  and  the  Colonel,  re- 
membering that  the  want  of  their  accustomed  beverage 
would  cause  much  discomfort,  gave  orders  to  lower  Mr. 
Adams  again,  wrhich  was  effected  more  rapidly  than  was 
appreciated  by  the  latter,  for  as  he  landed  in  a  lump  on 
the  small  rocks  bordering  the  water's  edge,  his  feet  slip- 
ped, and  he  went  head  foremost  into  the  foaming  torrent. 
The  yells  to  which  he  gave  utterance  as  the  chilling  fluid 
coursed  over  his  warm  body  were  too  laughable  to  de- 
scribe. But  it  was  no  laughing  matter  —  it  was  getting 
serious ;  so  the  two  men  above  quickly  gathered  up  the 
slack  of  the  rope  and  landed  him  upon  a  safe  footing. 

In  the  struggle  Mr.  Adams  let  go  of  the  pail  altogether, 
and  it  required  considerable  persuasion  to  induce  him  to 
detach  the  rope  from  his  body  in  order  that  they  might 
send  down  another.  He  had  lost  all  confidence  in  his 
companions.  The  darkness  was  intense.  A  more  dismal 
situation  for  a  man  to  be  in,  probably,  could  not  be  found 
in  any  country.  It  required  faithful  pledges  to  restore 
the  brave  fellow's  confidence,  which  was  entirely  gone; 
but  the  sudden  bath  to  which  he  had  been  subjected  through 
the  carelessness  of  his  comrades  braced  him  up.  Another 
pail  was  lowered  to  him,  the  last  one  in  camp,  which  he 
sent  up  alone,  not  daring  to  risk  the  loss  of  the  precious 
fluid  as  before,  by  the  added  weight  of  himself.  Safely  on 
the  top  of  the  bank,  it  was  carefully  set  aside,  and  the 


PENETRATES  THE  LLANO  E8TACADO 


69 


dreaded  task  of  hauling  him  to  the  companionship  of  his 
comrades  above  was  again  commenced.  By  exercising  bet- 
ter judgment  and  stronger  efforts  this  time,  the  Colonel 
and  Mr.  Rude  succeeded;  and  Mr.  Adams  was  once  more 
in  camp,  but  shivering  with  cold,  wet  through,  and  dis- 
gusted. His  language  was  not  such  as  would  have  graced 
the  drawing-room,  so  his  comrades  concluded  he  had  "let 
the  sun  go  down  upon  his  wrath." 

The  next  day,  after  driving  about  five  miles  north,  an 
almost  obliterated  trail  was  discovered,  wrhich  they  fol- 
lowed westwardly  until  noon,  when  a  crossing  over  the 
treacherous  Canadian  was  effected.  Camping  there  for 
dinner  and  resting  the  animals  an  hour  or  two,  Colonel 
Jones  then  mounted  his  horse,  telling  his  companions  to 
follow  him  into  the  u Llano  Estacado"  (the  Staked  Plains). 
Mr.  Rude  was  wrell  educated,  and  a  school  teacher;  but 
he  shuddered  at  the  Colonel's  command,  for  he  like  many 
others  erroneously  believed  that  region  with  its  awful 
name  to  ears  unacquainted  with  Spanish,  to  be  a  verita- 
ble terra  incognita,  a  "Jornada  del  Maerto"  (Journey  of 
Death)  to  anyone  who  had  the  temerity  to  cross  it.  He 
uttered  no  protest,  however, —  he  was  too  proud  and  cour- 
ageous for  that,  and  wrould  have  gone  to  positive  anni- 
hilation with  the  Colonel  if  necessary. 

As  the  little  caravan  wended  its  way  over  the  sandhills 
to  the  south,  upon  arriving  at  the  top  of  one  of  the  lof- 
tiest points  both  of  the  gentlemen  whom  Colonel  Jones 
had  chosen  for  companions  on  this  trip  actually  felt  the 
cold  chills  run  through  their  nerves  as  they  gazed  upon 
the  unwTelcome  and  barren  landscape  stretching  out  be- 
fore them. 

As  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  to  the  very  verge  of  the 
horizon,  there  lay  an  apparently  boundless  desert  of  pure 
sand.  The  wind  howled  mournfully  over  the  great  waste, 
blowing  the  almost  impalpable  particles  of  fruitless  soil 
in  clouds  which  simulated  myriads  of  insects,  so  fine  was 
the  hot  sand  as  it  was  moved  by  the  wind.  Sometimes 


70 


FORTY  YEARS    OF  ADVENTURES 


the  whole  surface,  when  the  fitful  gusts  were  more  fierce, 
resembled  a  high,  rolling  sea  with  the  spray  flying  high, 
and  apparently  as  unstable  as  the  ocean.  To  add  to 
the  repulsiveness  of  the  picture,  dismal-looking  black 
clouds  hung  like  a  pall  low  down  on  the  earth  in  every 
direction. 

Colonel  Jones  was  more  than  a  mile  in  advance  of  the 
wagons,  plowing  through  the  wearisome  sand  at  a  fear- 
fully slow  rate,  when  upon  looking  backward  over  his 
trail  he  saw  the  caravan  had  halted,  and  a  signal  made 
by  Mr.  Rude  for  him  to  return.  He  swept  the  whole  area 
with  his  powerful  glass,  saw  there  was  no  danger  lurking 
from  any  quarter  of  the  compass,  so  duplicated  Mr.  Rude's 
signal  by  ordering  the  caravan  to  come  on.  These  orders 
were  conveyed  by  well-understood  signals.  (These  sig- 
nals were  made  by  different  movements  of  the  horse,  di- 
rected by  his  rider.  Riding  in  a  circle  indicated  move 
on.  To  proceed  westward,  a  ride  in  a  circle  and  then 
suddenly  out  to  that  point  of  the  compass,  after  which 
slowly  return  to  where  the  circle  was  formed.  The  same 
for  all  courses.  To  make  haste,  ride  out  at  right  angles  to 
the  direction  traveled,  and  back.  To  come  to  the  com- 
mander, two  dashes  out  and  return,  the  speed  to  be  indi- 
cated by  the  one  giving  the  order.  Danger,  three  quick 
dashes  out.  Discovery  of  buffalo  in  the  distance,  circle, 
and  two  dashes  in  the  direction  of  the  herd.)  The 
caravan  did  not  move,  but  soon  Mr.  Rude  mounted  the 
other  saddle-horse  and  started  for  the  spot  where  the 
Colonel  waited,  impatient  at  the  loss  of  time.  Mr.  Rude's 
horse  wallowed  through  the  sand  to  within  a  hundred 
yards  of  the  Colonel,  when  the  latter  shouted,  "What's 
the  matter,  Rude, —  anything  wrong?"  Mr.  Rude  made 
no  response,  continuing  to  advance,  and  as  he  came  nearer 
the  Colonel  repeated  his  interrogation.  Mr.  Rude  looked 
very  pale,  and  replied  that  Mr.  Adams  had  refused  to  go 
any  farther  for  fear  they  would  all  perish  on  the  desert 
from  want  of  water;  that  he  himself  was  not  particularly 


CAMPING  IN  THE  DESERT 


71 


anxious  to  proceed.  Colonel  Jones's  only  answer  was: 
''Go  where  you  like;  I  shall  cross  this  desert.  I  know 
you  never  can  find  your  way  home ;  you  would  better 
choose  the  wiser  part." 

This  was  undoubtedly  cold  comfort  for  Mr.  Rude,  as 
the  Colonel  whirled  his  horse,  rode  straight  to  the  south, 
in  which  direction  he  had  been  traveling,  not  deigning  to 
bestow  one  parting  look  at  his  weary  and  discomfited  fol- 
lowers. 

As  the  Colonel  crossed  a  ridge,  before  he  rode  down  on 
the  other  side  he  cast  his  eyes  back  and  saw  Mr.  Rude 
wending  his  way  toward  the  caravan ;  but  he  kept  right 
on,  wras  soon  over  another  ridge,  and  out  of  sight  of  his 
companions. 

When  he  arrived  at  the  next  ravine  he  dismounted, 
walked  back  to  the  crest  of  the  divide,  and  with  his  glass 
peeped  over  to  watch  results  at  the  wagon.  He  saw  Mr. 
Rude  arrive  there,  hold  a  consultation  with  Mr.  Adams, 
which  lasted  fully  fifteen  minutes,  and  then  they  mounted 
the  wagon  and  made  a  direct  line  for  where  they  had  last 
seen  the  Colonel.  The  latter,  upon  seeing  this  movement 
on  the  part  of  his  comrades,  mounted  his  horse  again,  as- 
cended in  full  view,  and  continued  straight  ahead  as 
though  nothing  out  of  the  usual  course  had  occurred. 

Mile  after  mile  he  worried  off;  there  was  no  vegetation 
of  any  character  visible  anywhere;  the  darkness  set  in 
very  early,  so  he  halted,  to  wait  until  the  wagon  should 
come  up.  Here  was  made  a  "dry  camp,"  for  the  drive 
had  been  so  heavy  it  was  impossible  to  carry  water,  ex- 
cepting that  contained  in  the  ten-gallon  keg;  enough 
only  to  serve  for  drinking  purposes  for  the  men.  It  was 
a  most  uncomfortable  night  —  dark,  cold,  and  misty;  be- 
sides, the  relations  between  the  individual  members  of 
the  party  were  not  of  the  most  cordial  nature  after  what 
had  occurred,  which  did  not  ameliorate  matters. 

The  next  morning,  however,  broke  clear  and  bright, 
having  an  exhilarating  effect  upon  both  men  and  ani- 


72 


FOETY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


mals.  As  soon  as  the  roseate  color  in  the  east  betokened 
the  coming  day,  the  reconciled  gentlemen  were  well  on 
their  way  towards  the  southeast,  where  a  high  point  stood 
out  very  prominently  against  the  sky, —  Colonel  Jones,  as 
always,  in  the  lead. 

By  ten  o'clock  the  party  had  reached  the  spot,  where 
they  joined  the  Colonel,  who  had  been  waiting  for  his 
comrades  some  minutes.  When  he  first  arrived  there  he 
saw,  much  to  his  own  surprise,  away  to  the  south,  about 
six  miles  distant,  a  large  lake  of  water  glistening  in  the 
sunlight.  Was  it  only  a  deceptive  creation,  a  receding  mi- 
rage, which  makes  the  disappointment  of  the  thirsty  trav- 
eler a  thousand  times  more  realistic,  or  was  it  real  water? 
He  dwelt  upon  the  delightful  picture  with  his  field-glass. 
There  were  antelopes  in  the  vicinity,  and  a  band  of  wild 
horses  was  approaching  the  real  or  fancied  lake.  He 
would  soon  know  now.  The  wild  animals  approached 
the  spot  in  a  gallop,  reached  the  edge  of  the  apparent 
shore,  halted  for  an  instant,  lowered  their  heads  for  a  few 
minutes,  then  turned  about  and  started  in  the  direction 
whence  they  came.  Water,  beyond  a  doubt!  Often  be- 
fore had  the  Colonel  observed  these  maneuvers,  only  not 
so  early  in  the  day.  Often  he  had  been  compelled  to  de- 
pend entirely  upon  the  actions  of  wild  horses  to  discover 
the  wherewith  to  save  himself  from  dying  of  thirst. 

Of  all  the  animals  of  the  Great  Plains,  wild  horses  are 
safest  to  rely  upon  by  the  thirsty  traveler,  as  they  drink 
every  day  betwreen  ten  and  three  o'clock;  while  buffalo 
wrill  go  three  days  or  longer  at  a  time  without  attempting 
to  find  a  stream  or  lagoon.  Antelope  are  very  change- 
able in  their  times  and  modes  of  drinking.  They  fre- 
quently get  their  supply  from  an  old  pond  or  lagoon 
which  has  been  dry  for  a  long  period.  Strange  as  this 
may  seem  to  the  uninitiated,  to  procure  water  from  where 
apparently  no  water  is,  it  nevertheless  is  a  positive  fact, 
as  all  old  plainsmen  will  testify.  The  antelope  forces  his 
long  nose  into  a  crayfish  hole,  for  instance;  then,  by  a 


THE  LAKE  IN  THE  DESERT 


73 


process  of  suction  through  the  mouth,  forces  the  air 
through  the  nostrils,  this  action  forming  an  air-pump, 
which  causes  a  vacuum,  and  the  pure  cold  water  is  forced 
up  to  quench  his  thirst. 

The  Colonel,  now  perfectly  satisfied  he  had  discovered 
water,  signaled  the  men  to  hurry  up,  which  they  did ; 
but  when  the  calm,  beautiful  lake  was  pointed  out  to 
them  they  declared  it  was  only  a  mirage,  and  would  not 
really  believe  their  leader,  until  they  approached  so  near 
they  saw  ducks  breasting  the  rippling  waves.  Even  then 
they  were  in  doubt  whether  to  believe  their  own  eyes  or 
no.  They  were  only  convinced  by  dipping  their  fingers 
into  the  water  so  as  to  have  infallible  proof, —  for  they 
had  almost  passed  the  period  of  believing  anything. 

The  reader  will  naturally  think,  perhaps,  that  these 
men  were  the  veriest  u  tenderfeet,"  or  lacking  in  force: 
such  was  not  the  case.  Mr.  Rude,  as  previously  stated, 
was  a  man  of  bright  intellect,  with  an  abundance  of 
courage  and  business  sagacity;  Mr.  Adams  was  a  solid 
farmer,  and  a  man  of  good  all-around  ability.  The  fact 
is,  ninety-nine  out  of  a  hundred  men,  not  accustomed  to 
the  Great  Plains,  under  such  desperate  circumstances 
would  have  been  unable  to  tell  whether  they  were  afoot 
or  horseback. 

They  arrived  at  the  lake  about  noon.  A  camp  was 
made  at  once,  for  they  had  not  yet  eaten  a  mouthful 
that  day;  so  both  breakfast  and  dinner  were  served  to- 
gether. All  now  felt  much  better,  and  what  little  ani- 
mosity remained  was  dispelled  forever. 

About  two  o'clock  that  afternoon,  while  the  Colonel 
from  a  high  point  was  sweeping  the  horizon  with  his 
glass,  he  saw  a  buffalo  cow  far  to  the  west,  heading 
southward.  He  watched  her  until  she  was  out  of  sight, 
and  as  she  passed  beyond  the  range  of  his  glass,  was  still 
going  in  the  same  direction  as  when  he  first  discovered 
her,  traveling  at  a  relatively  rapid  rate.  This  was  en- 
couragement enough  for  the  Colonel,  as  he  knew  by  her 


74 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


gait  that  she  had  been  frightened  and  was  hurrying  to 
the  main  herd. 

The  team  was  quickly  "  hooked  up,"  and  all  started 
at  a  good  gait  toward  the  south,  not  halting  until  they 
had  covered  at  least  twenty  miles. 

During  all  that  long  distance  not  an  object  was  visible 
on  the  vast  expanse,  bounded  by  only  the  great  circle  of 
the  heavens.  When  the  sun  was  lowering  in  the  west, 
however,  nine  distinct  somethings  were  seen  in  the  extreme 
southwest;  but  they  were  too  far  off  to  be  classified,  in 
the  rapidly  coming  gloom.  Colonel  Jones  and  Mr.  Rude 
immediately  mounted  their  horses,  leaving  Mr.  Adams  to 
follow  with  the  team.  In  a  short  time,  after  a  brisk  lope, 
the  Colonel  and  his  companion  came  in  full  sight  of  nine 
buffalo  bulls,  of  immense  size. 

By  dismounting  and  leading  their  horses,  or  rather, 
walking  by  their  sides,  thus  masking  themselves,  taking 
care  to  keep  the  animals  on  the  side  next  to  the  buffalo, 
they  were  enabled  to  approach  very  near  the  monstrous 
beasts.  At  the  proper  moment,  Colonel  Jones  handed  the 
bridle-reins  of  his  horse  to  Mr.  Rude,  and  whispering, 
"  Keep  straight  on  until  I  shoot,"  he  then  dropped  on  the 
ground.  As  soon  as  the  horses  had  passed  from  between 
him  and  the  herd,  bang  !  went  his  gun,  and  away  went  all 
the  buffalo.  Mr.  Rude  was  terribly  discouraged,  and 
yelled  out,  "Shoot  again  !  Shoot  again  !  " 

"Just  wait,"  replied  the  Colonel ;  "I  only  want  one  for 
meat." 

"But  you  didn't  touch  one,"  indignantly  answered 
Mr.  Rude. 

"You  just  hold  on,  and  you'll  see  whether  I  did  or 
not,"  said  the  Colonel. 

Sure  enough,  at  this  moment  one  of  the  huge  beasts  be- 
gan to  jump  rather  stiffly,  and  in  another  minute  he  was 
lying  broadside  on  the  prairie,  the  deadest  buffalo  Mr. 
Rude  had  ever  seen. 

The  Colonel  had  adopted  his  old  tactics  —  pierced  the 


LAST  HERD   OF  BUFFALO  DISCOVERED 


75 


beast  directly  through  the  lungs,  which  invariably  per- 
mits him  to  run  a  hundred  yards  or  more  before  he  suc- 
cumbs to  the  inevitable  effects  of  such  a  shot. 

Mr.  Rude  was  soon  busying  himself  in  cutting  out  the 
choice  of  the  best  parts  of  the  buffalo,  for  the  whole  party 
were  hungry  for  nature's  delicious  food.  He  selected  that 
portion  which  extends  from  the  loins  forward  to  where 
the  neck  joins  the  shoulders,  which  includes  the"  hump,"  1 
yielding  about  a  hundred  pounds  of  the  most  tender  of  all 
meat,  and  never  found  on  any  other  animal.  Thus  the 
buffalo  is  just  that  quantity  in  excess  of  the  domestic 
species  of  the  bovine  family  to  which  he  is  allied. 

While  Mr.  Rude  was  thus  employed,  Colonel  Jones  rode 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  toward  the  south,  and  coming  to  the 
crest  of  the  divide,  peeped  cautiously  beyond,  where  the 
buffalo  had  just  passed  over,  and  there  saw  the  last  herd 
of  buffalo  remaining  in  the  whole  world, —  numbering,  as 
nearly  as  he  could  estimate,  about  six  hundred. 

Without  attempting  to  disturb  them,  he  hurriedly  re- 
turned to  where  the  dead  buffalo  was,  and  gathering  up  a 
piece  of  meat  the  two  men  were  off  for  the  wagon. 

It  was  now  rapidly  approaching  night:  where  was  Mr. 
Adams  ?  Nothing  could  be  seen  or  heard  of  him.  The 
spurs  were  vigorously  applied,  and  down  the  divide  they 
dashed  as  quickly  as  was  consistent  with  safety,  reached 
the  level  valley,  and  were  soon  far  apart.  Finally  Mr. 
Rude  overtook  the  team,  halted  it,  then  discharged  his 
gun,  at  the  signal  of  which  the  Colonel  returned  the 
salute,  and  was  soon  with  his  comrades. 

Just  as  night  had  closed  in,  a  cold  rain  and  sleet  began 
falling.    In  the  morning  there  was  no  abatement  of  the 

1  The  hump  is  a  large  layer  or  roll  of  choice  tender  meat,  extending  from  the  neck 
of  the  animal,  back  to  the  hips,  being  much  larger  and  higher  immediately  over  the 
shoulders,  and  tapering  gradually  back  to  a  small  round  muscle.  This  meat  lies  on 
the  upper  portion  of  the  ribs,  and  tapers  to  a  sharp  edge  at  the  crest  of  the  animal's 
back,  supported  by  false  spines  or  ribs,  standing  perpendicularly  on  each  joint  of  the 
vertebrae.  They  are  flat,  and  range  in  length  from  three  to  eight  inches  ;  the  longest 
being  immediately  over  the  shoulders,  gradually  becoming  shorter  toward  the  hips. 
This  accounts  for  the  crooked  backs  of  the  buffalo. 


76 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


storm,  and  the  party  had  to  content  themselves  with 
lying  on  their  blankets  under  an  improvised  tent,  formed 
by  the  wagon-tongue  as  a  ridgepole,  held  up  by  the  neck- 
yoke  of  the  wagon,  with  a  piece  of  canvas  thrown  over, — 
all  open,  of  course,  at  both  ends.  No  fire  was  kindled,  as 
everything  was  soaked  with  water ;  so  there  was  nothing 
cooked.  They  ate  some  dry  biscuit,  which  was  heartily 
relished,  because  the  life  they  were  living  was  very  pro- 
vocative of  a  good  appetite,  although  they  were  cold  and 
constantly  shivering. 

At  intervals  during  the  day,  when  the  sky  cleared  up 
for  a  few  moments,  hundreds  of  buffalo  could  be  seen 
facing  the  wild  storm,  with  a  great  many  tawny  calves 
trembling  with  cold  as  they  hugged  their  mother's  shel- 
tering sides  of  soft  fur. 

Night  came  on  again,  but  seemed  almost  interminable 
to  the  men,  who,  cold  and  hungry,  were  lying  under  their 
improvised  tent  anxiously  waiting  for  daylight  to  arrive. 
At  the  break  of  dawn  the  storm  passed  away ;  yet  still  it 
was  dark,  cold  and  dreary.  The  Colonel  saddled  two  of 
his  best  horses,  the  mules  were  hooked  to  the  wagon,  and 
he  ordered  the  men  to  follow  him  as  rapidly  as  possible, 
and  to  remember  the  mistakes  of  the  previous  chase.  The 
herd  of  buffalo  seen  the  evening  before  were  in  the  same 
position  still,  just  over  a  ridge  about  half  a  mile  away. 
The  Colonel  rounded  over  the  little  divide,  riding  one 
horse,  the  other  running  abreast  as  a  reserve.  The  herd 
did  not  stir  until  he  was  almost  upon  it.  When  the  ani- 
mals discovered  their  danger  they  dashed  away,  cutting 
into  the  soft  ground  with  their  sharp  hoofs,  which  in  a 
few  seconds  resembled  a  plowed  field. 

The  races  of  this  day  were  similar  to  those  of  the  days 
previous,  excepting  that  on  this  occasion  the  Colonel  did 
not  depend  on  one  horse  alone,  but  changed  from  one  to 
the  other  without  checking ;  nor  did  he  attach  the  lasso 
to  his  horse's  neck.  He  labored  under  many  difficulties, 
however:  the  lasso  was  wet,  hard,  and  stiff, —  not  at  all 


LEAVES  HIS  GARMENTS  TO  PROTECT  THE  CALVES  77 


flexible;  and  this  was  very  discouraging,  for  the  calves 
jumped  through  the  loop,  and  this  was  repeated  three  or 
four  times  by  one  of  the  little  beasts  before  he  was  finally 
secured.  The  day,  too,  was  dark;  the  wolves  and  coyotes 
very  bold  and  impudent ;  dozens  of  them  were  constantly 
prowling  around  after  the  calves,  and  to  leave  one  tied  any 
length  of  time  would  surely  result  in  its  falling  into  their 
vicious  jaws.  Besides,  they  took  good  care  to  keep  well 
up  in  the  chase,  watching  the  Colonel's  every  movement. 

After  the  second  calf  was  secured,  the  teams  were  again 
lost  sight  of  in  the  distance,  and  it  would  be  useless  to  tie 
and  leave  a  calf  so  far  away.  What  to  do  under  the  cir- 
cumstances, was  a  problem.  The  third  calf  was  roped 
and  tied.  "Shall  I  leave  it,  and  take  chances  of  the 
wolves  devouring  it  ?"  soliloquized  the  Colonel.  "Yes. 
Such  another  opportunity  to  catch  calves  will  never 
again  occur.  I  have  traveled  five  hundred  miles  for 
this  all -important  opportunity."  So  off  goes  his  cow- 
boy hat ;  he  tucks  it  under  the  rope  around  the  calf's 
neck,  and  on  he  rushes.  A  fourth  is  secured  ;  his  coat  is 
left,  to  protect  it  from  the  voraciousness  of  the  gray  wolf 
—  the  greatest  enemy  of  the  buffalo,  excepting  man.  The 
wolf  will  not  disturb  anything  that  has  upon  it  the  fresh 
scent  of  man  (as  he  thinks  it  a  trap),  unless  driven  to 
desperation  by  hunger;  hence  the  action  of  the  Colonel 
in  thus  protecting  his  game  by  the  methods  he  adopted. 
Here  one  of  his  horses  became  exhausted.  The  Colonel 
leaped  to  the  reserve  horse  without  checking  their  speed, 
cut  him  loose,  and  rolled  the  steel  spurs  upon  his  faith- 
ful steed's  flanks. 

The  fifth  calf  was  shortly  afterward  caught.  Colonel 
Jones  took  off  his  vest  this  time,  which  he  wrapped  upon 
the  little  creature  to  save  it.  A  sixth  is  secured,  and  one 
of  his  boots  does  service  now.  The  seventh  succumbs  to 
his  prowess,  and  the  remaining  boot  serves  the  purpose. 
But  when  the  eighth  was  caught,  there  was  a  desperate 
struggle ;  the  horse  by  this  time  was  all  of  a  tremble,  and 


78 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


covered  with  foam;  and  the  gallant  Colonel,  having  no 
other  garment  he  could  well  spare,  mounted  his  horse, 
reached  down,  and  drew  the  baby  buffalo  up  in  his  arms. 
He  then  Started  on  the  backward  track.  He  could  see  a 
band  of  wolves  encircling  the  seventh  calf,  so  spurred  up 
"Jubar"  to  the  rescue.  He  arrived  at  the  spot  just  in 
time :  the  wolves  had  closed  in  on  it,  and  were  ready  to 
complete  their  tactics,  when  they  were  scattered  right  and 
left  by  the  Colonel,  who  reached  down  and  drew  the 
supposed  victim  up  in  triumph.  This  calf  was  also 
carried  on  toward  his  goal,  with  a  band  of  more  than 
fifty  wolves  and  coyotes  trotting  all  around  as  they  ac- 
companied him. 

The  next  calf,  fortunately,  had  been  left  in  a  clump  of 
grass,  which  the  wolves  had  missed  entirely.  When  the 
Colonel  reached  it,  his  courage  failed ;  the  danger  was  too 
great  to  attempt  taking  the  third  animal  up  in  his  arms 
with  the  others.  He  let  the  calves  down  on  the  ground 
and  made  a  dash  at  the  wolves,  shooting  at  them  with 
his  revolver,  but  they  paid  little  attention  to  this  kind  of 
music. 

He  was  in  a  dilemma;  in  a  precarious  position.  Where 
in  the  world  was  the  team  ?  He  was  worn  out  completely, 
and  his  strength  was  gradually  giving  away ;  he  longed  to 
see  the  wagon  ;  certainly  his  companions  could  not  be 
lost.  The  trail  of  the  herd  was  visible  fully  half  a  mile 
away. 

As  often  as  he  would  venture  off  in  search  of  the  men, 
as  often  did  the  wolves  return  and  attempt  to  get  at  the 
helpless  calves ;  so  he  was  compelled  to  remain  and  fight 
the  vicious,  hungry  brutes. 

After  more  than  a  full  hour's  worrying  with  the  pack, 
he  heard  the  report  of  a  gun,  but  in  an  entirely  opposite 
direction  from  where  he  expected.  Upon  this  happy  turn 
matters  had  taken,  he  made  a  dash  to  the  top  of  a  high 
hill  near  by,  where  he  saw,  about  a  mile  distant,  the 
wagon,  the  driver  apparently  wandering  at  random  over 


"THE  PERISHING"  RESCUED. 


GATHERING  UP  THE  CALVES 


79 


the  prairie.  Signals  were  immediately  communicated  by 
him,  and  the  team  headed  for  where  he  stood. 

By  this  time  all  the  wolves  were  aggregating  in  one 
large  pack  around  the  three  calves,  and  he  had  to  rush 
down  on  them  in  a  mighty  hurry  to  save  his  prizes ;  yet 
they  hardly  noticed  him,  continuing  their  movements  to 
jump  upon  the  little  buffalo.  He  stood  guard  over  them, 
preventing  the  wolves  from  effecting  their  purpose,  only 
by  the  greatest  efforts,  until  the  team  came  up, — and  to 
make  matters  worse,  bringing  with  them  another  pack  of 
the  hungry  devils,  which  had  been  escorting  the  wagon 
for  miles.  The  report  of  the  gun  that  had  attracted  the 
Colonel's  attention  was  caused  by  Mr.  Rude,  who  had 
fired  at  one  of  the  most  impudent  monsters, — a  great  gray 
beast,  which  fortunately  he  succeeded  in  killing. 

The  men  had  gathered  up  three  of  the  calves  as  they 
came  to  them.  The  three  which  were  guarded  by  Colonel 
Jones  were  quickly  loaded,  and  the  wagon  going  at  as 
rapid  a  rate  as  possible  back  over  the  trail  of  the  herd, 
until  the  other  two  calves  and  the  horse  that  had  been 
cut  loose  were  safely  taken  also.  It  was  found  that  the 
wolves  had  made  no  attack  upon  them ;  the  foresight  of 
the  Colonel  in  putting  his  clothes  around  them  had  pre- 
vented it. 

When  the  last  little  buffalo  was  placed  in  the  wagon, 
Colonel  Jones  sank  on  the  ground,  perfectly  exhausted. 
Fortunately,  there  was  a  quart  bottle  of  whisky  in  the 
light  spring  rig,  it  having  been  brought  from  home  as  an 
antidote  to  the  possible  bite  of  a  rattlesnake,  the  country 
being  full  of  them.  A  drink  of  this  was  administered  to 
him  by  Mr.  Rude,  and  it  immediately  revived  him.  The 
team  was  driven  to  where  chips  could  be  procured.  A  din- 
ner was  elegantly  served,  consisting  of  deliciously  broiled 
buffalo-steak,  hot  biscuits,  and  excellent  coffee, —  the  first 
warm  meal  the  tired  hunters  had  partaken  of  for  forty- 
eight  hours.  An  extraordinary  appetite  gave  a  zest  to  it, 
such  as  cannot  be  appreciated  by  those  who  have  never 


80 


FORTY  YEAE8   OF  ADVENTURES 


experienced  a  plainsman's  capacity  under  similar  circum- 
stances. 

Fourteen  calves  were  secured  —  a  whole  wagon-box  full. 
The  party  bade  farewell  to  the  "  Staked  Plains,"  and  drove 
to  the  ranch,  where  they  had  left  the  five  calves  already 
caught.  They  then  took  a  bee  line  for  the  Colonel's  home, 
and  arrived  there  with  ten  of  the  young  animals  in  good 
health,  four  having  died  en  route,  in  consequence  of  fatigue 
and  indifferent  food,  for  condensed  milk  was  all  that  could 
be  procured  until  the  Arkansas  river  was  reached.  The 
expedition  was  a  great  success,  and  the  first  effort  at  cap- 
turing the  nucleus  of  what  is  now  the  greatest  herd  of 
buffalo  in  the  world. 

While  on  the  return  from  his  trip,  and  when  between 
the  two  Canadian  rivers,  in  Texas,  Colonel  Jones  says  he 
saw  the  most  wonderful  sight  in  all  his  long  and  varied 
experience  upon  the  Great  Plains  and  in  the  mountains. 
It  was  the  day  after  his  last  remarkable  effort.  He  was 
wearily  plodding  his  way  on  foot,  leading  his  jaded  horse, 
picking  out  a  route  homeward  for  the  heavily  loaded 
wagon  containing  its  precious  freight.  As  he  approached 
the  top  of  a  little  divide  he  saw  what  he  believed  to  be  a 
herd  of  buffalo  and  domestic  cattle  mixed  together ;  they 
were  on  the  right  of  his  course,  about  a  mile  distant.  He 
halted,  and  instructed  Mr.  Rude  to  keep  straight  on,  while 
he  would  make  a  detour,  and  go  up  the  ravine  to  a  point 
near  where  the  herd  was  quietly  grazing.  When  the  Colo- 
nel arrived  at  the  spot  he  had  suggested,  he  found  himself 
within  two  or  three  hundred  yards  of  the  mixed  animals, 
and  was  surprised  to  discover  that  instead  of  all  the  white 
beasts  being  cattle,  one  only  was  a  white  native  cow,  while 
the  others  were  white  buffalo :  a  three-year-old,  a  two- 
year-old,  and  a  yearling.  This  was  the  most  remarkable 
phenomenon  he  had  ever  witnessed,  and  for  a  moment  he 
did  not  know  whether  he  was  awake  or  dreaming.  He 
had  read  of  the  superstition  of  the  Indian  in  relation  to 
the  white  buffalo,  and  had  considered  it  a  sort  of  phan- 


WHITE  BUFFALO 


81 


torn, —  a  phantasm  of  the  red  man's  brain;  now  he  could 
scarcely  believe  his  own  eyes.  There  the  strange  animals 
stood  under  the  noonday  sun,  chewing  their  cud, — white 
buffalo  as  sure  as  the  world!  There  were  their  humps, 
their  small  ears,  their  short  tails.  They  were  buffalo; 
not  as  white  as  the  "  driven  snow,"  but  white  enough  to 
assure  him  he  had  made  no  mistake  in  diagnosing  the 
color.  What  to  do  he  did  not  know;  he  was  at  a  total 
loss  to  divine.  His  horse  was  so  completely  used  up, 
there  was  no  earthly  chance  of  putting  a  rope  on  one  of 
the  curious  animals,  but  to  capture  one  would  be  a  for- 
tune, for  the  great  showman  Barnum  would  probably  pay 
ten  thousand  dollars  for  it  quickly,  as  a  white  buffalo  was 
a  rare  effort  of  nature.  Here  were  three  that  could  be 
captured,  and  the  Colonel  thought,  as  did  Richard  at 
Bosworth  field,  UA  horse!  A  horse!  My  kingdom  for  a 
horse  I"  But  other  than  his  own  exhausted  animal  there 
was  none ;  so  he  mounted  it,  determined  to  do  the  best  he 
could  under  the  unfortunate  circumstances.  By  lying 
along  the  body  of  his  faithful  steed,  he  rode  directly 
toward  the  herd,  but  the  white  cow  soon  caught  sight  of 
him,  and  rolling  her  long  tail  over  her  back,  led  the 
frightened  animals  at  a  fearful  gait  toward  the  south. 
The  Colonel  urged  his  horse  to  his  utmost  speed,  but  to 
no  purpose ;  away  the  white  beauties  flew,  like  so  many 
spirits,  and  in  a  short  time  were  beyond  the  vision  of 
their  pursuer.  As  they  went  over  the  divide,  both  Messrs. 
Rude  and  Adams  got  a  full  view  of  them,  and  are  compe- 
tent to  verify  these  assertions  made  by  Colonel  Jones,  who 
says  he  would  never  have  related  the  facts  without  being 
able  to  substantiate  them  by  the  gentlemen  who  were 
with  him  at  the  time ;  and  ' '  In  the  mouth  of  two  or  three 
witnesses  let  every  word  be  established." 

Of  late  years  Colonel  Jones  has  figured  out  the  solution 
of  the  problem  of  white  buffalo.  He  declares  that  all  he 
has  ever  seen  were  nothing  more  or  less  than  exact  proto- 
types of  u  catalo,"  1  the  picture  of  which  is  given  on  an- 

1 A  description  of  this  animal  will  be  found  in  chapter  15. 
-6 


82  FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 

other  page.  Those  he  saw  in  the  herd  described  were 
"  catalo  "  ;  calves  of  the  white  cow,  sired  by  a  full-blooded 
buffalo. 

A  white  buffalo  was  killed  on  the  Smoky  Hill  river  in 
western  Kansas,  many  years  ago.  The  skin  was  saved 
and  mounted,  and  presented  to  the  State  Agricultural 
Museum  at  Topeka,  Kansas,  where  it  may  yet  be  seen. 
It  was  also  a  catalo. 


CHAPTER  VI 


INDIANS 

INDIANS    THE     GREATEST    DANGER     OF     THE    PLAINS  AL- 
THOUGH   TENACIOUS    OF    LIFE,  THE    u  TENDERFOOT  "  HAS 

LITTLE    CHANCE    AGAINST    THEM  COL.    JONES'S  GREAT 

SUCCESS    IN    FIGHTING    INDIANS  A    BATTLE    WITH  AR- 

RAPAHOES  FOOLED   THEM  COMPLETELY  CASUALTIES  

THE  COLONEL  NOTED  FOR  KEEPING  OUT  OF  ENCOUNTERS 
 NO  LOVE  FOR  THEM  BUFFALO-HUNTERS,  AND  NOT  SOL- 
DIERS, CONQUERED  THE  INDIANS  JONES  IN  CHIEF'S  CAMP 

 REFUSES  HIM  MONEY  BIG  BOW  £ '  HEAP  MAD  ' '  NEARLY 

CAUGHT  WHILE  SKINNING  BUFFALO — " VAMOOSE,  OR  I  WILL 

KILL  YOU  "^GREATEST  SHOW  ON  EARTH  TWO  HUNDRED 

WARRIORS  SURROUND  A  HERD  OF  BUFFALO  SIGNALING  FOR 

AID  AT  LONG  DISTANCE — HOW  THEY  CIRCUMVENTED  THE 
ANIMALS. 

OF  course,  during  Colonel  Jones's  long  and  thrill- 
ing career  on  the  Great  Plains  and  in  the  moun- 
tains of  the  West,  often  absolutely  alone  for 
weeks  together,  he  has  frequently  encountered  the 
wily  red  man  in  all  his  various  characteristics.  I  found, 
however,  in  looking  over  the  manuscript  of  his  carefully 
kept  journal,  that  he  everywhere  evinces  a  decided  repug- 
nance to  giving  the  facts  to  the  world.  To  employ  his 
exact  language,  he  says : 

i  1  So  much  has  been  written  about  the  Indians,  I  feel  it 
will  be  an  almost  useless  and  thankless  task  to  present 
the  real  facts  in  relation  to  them,  since  the  domain  of 
fiction  has  scattered  so  much  broadcast  throughout  the 

(83) 


84 


FORTY  YEARS  OF  ADVENTURES 


world  which  is  perfectly  ridiculous  in  its  perversion  of 
the  truth. 

"  It  appears  to  me  that  when  a  novelist  has  exhausted 
his  fund  of  'blood  and  thunder,'  he  falls  back  upon 
the  American  savage  to  recoup  himself.  I  have  many 
hundreds  of  times  been  in  close  contact  with  these  4  un- 
sophisticated children  of  Nature '  as  some  of  our  super- 
sensitive Eastern  philanthropists  are  pleased  to  call 
them;  have  dwelt  in  their  lodges,  hunted  with  their 
great  chiefs,  battled  with  them,  and  am  familiar  with 
their  cunning,  their  bravery,  their  sufferings,  and  every 
other  phase  of  their  nomadic  life.  I  have  been  treated 
with  the  most  profound  respect,  and  conversely,  been 
humiliated,  under  force  of  numbers,  by  the  miserable 
creatures. 

"  In  the  days  of  our  buffalo-hunting, —  now,  unhappily, 
past  forever, — the  Indian  was  more  to  be  feared  than 
all  other  dangers  combined.  Intuitively,  the  red  devils 
knew  a  '  tenderfoot '  even  before  that  specimen  of  the  genus 
homo  had  been  classified  by  old  plainsmen  themselves. 
The  Indian,  however,  was  as  afraid  of  the  'veteran  of  the 
border  '  as  one  can  imagine,  and  always  evaded  an  encoun- 
ter with  one  of  them,  unless  advised  of  victory  by  the 
'  medicine-man  '  of  the  tribe, —  really  the  spiritual  adviser, 
or  priest  of  the  band. 

"  The  Indians  of  the  Plains  were  more  tenacious  of  life 
than  any  race  I  have  ever  encountered;  a  characteristic, 
I  affirm,  of  all  nomadic  peoples.  The  American  savage 
exercises  the  utmost  precaution  in  regard  to  his  self-pres- 
ervation. None  have  been  known  to  boldly  measure  prowess 
with  the  white  man  when  the  chances  were  about  equal ; 
nor  would  a  half-dozen  of  these  '  braves '  attack  a  single 
old  plainsman  openly,  though  they  were  armed  with  the 
latest  and  most  approved  repeating  rifles,  and  their  tactics 
and  strategy  equal  to  the  enemy.  They  blustered  and 
dashed  in  such  a  bewildering  manner,  however,  that  they 
received  credit  for  courage  and  prowess  which  they  did  not 


FIGHTING  INDIANS  IN  THE  EARLY  DAYS 


85 


possess,  and  stories  are  related  of  them  which  never  had 
the  least  basis  of  truth. 

"How  often  have  we  read  of  'outfits'  crossing  the 
Plains  in  the  early  days  being  surprised  and  surrounded 
by  Indians.  How  the  savages,  it  was  told,  encircled  the 
hapless  band  of  travelers.  Running  around  on  their 
ponies  in  a  circle,  the  Indians  gradually  closed  in  upon 
the  excited  little  group  of  whites,  constantly  pouring  a 
shower  of  arrows  into  them,  while  the  latter  vainly  es- 
sayed to  drive  the  Indians  off.  Thick  and  fast,  it  was 
alleged,  the  bullets  were  sent  into  the  ranks  of  the  at- 
tacking party,  without  the  least  effect,  '  as  the  savages 
threw  themselves  on  the  other  side  of  their  ponies,  thus 
precluding  the  possibility  of  being  struck.'  (What  non- 
sense !  all  modern  rifle-balls  pass  entirely  through  a  pony, 
or  even  a  buffalo  bull.)  Also,  that  the  ammunition  of 
the  attacked  soon  became  exhausted,  and  the  bewil- 
dered and  panic-stricken  group  was  captured.  How  brave 
and  daring  this  account  of  the  Indian  method  of  warfare 
sounds !  Yet  I  could  take  the  same  number  of  white 
men,  and  all  sitting  erect  in  their  saddles,  encircle  the 
same  number  of  '  tenderfeet '  for  an  hour  or  more,  and 
not  one  of  us  receive  a  scratch. 

"  I  never  realized  the  philosophy  of  the  Indians'  '  strat- 
egy' until  I  had  wasted  a  barrel  of  powder  and  several 
hundred  pounds  of  lead,  endeavoring  to  shoot  antelope 
while  they  were  on  the  run  at  right  angles  to  the  line  of 
sight  of  my  Winchester.  When  I  had  learned  to  aim  at 
least  two  rods  ahead  of  the  fleeing  animal,  when  the  lat- 
ter was  two  hundred  yards  distant,  at  once  the  wonder* 
ful  knowledge  of  the  Indian  (who  is  never  killed  by  a 
'  tenderfoot '  under  such  circumstances  as  related  in  the 
story  of  the  fight  as  told  above)  and  the  ignorance  of  the 
white  man  came  to  me  like  an  inspiration.  The  expla- 
nation of  perfect  immunity  from  danger  on  the  part  of 
the  Indian  while  circling  around  the  enemy  as  described, 
drawing  the  fire  of  a  hundred  or  more  rifles,  is  this:  The 


86 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


'tenderfoot,'  aiming  directly  at  the  pony  or  its  rider 
while  moving  rapidly,  misses  the  object  intended,  the 
ball  falling  in  the  rear,  as  no  allowance  is  made  for  the 
velocity  of  the  Indian  dashing  ahead  at  a  tremendous 
rate ;  consequently  the  ball  arrives  at  the  spot  where  the 
savage  has  been,  when  he  is  at  least  a  rod  or  two  in  ad- 
vance (according  to  distance  from  the  shooter).  The 
next  Indian  was  always  careful  to  keep  fully  ten  times 
that  distance  behind  his  leader,  so  that  all  balls  intended 
to  stop  the  first  man,  had  passed  on  before  the  second 
reached  the  place  where  they  struck. 

"  Before  I  had  learned  this  lesson  by  experience,  I  had 
wasted  an  immense  amount  of  ammunition,  on  two  sep- 
arate occasions,  in  attempting  to  '  stand  off '  the  repeated 
dashes  of  a  band  of  the  persistent  Cheyennes.  Then  it 
was  only  by  good  shelter,  cool  heads  and  abundant  am- 
munition that  we  effectually  escaped  capture,  and  the 
tortures  unnameable  which  were  sure  to  follow  our  fall- 
ing into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 

"Years  after  our  first  encounter  with  these  ghouls  of 
the  prairie,  while  hunting  buffalo  near  the  headwaters  of 
the  Saline  river  in  western  Kansas,  with  five  companions, 
and  just  as  we  were  ready  to  go  into  camp,  preparatory 
to  loading  one  of  our  wagons  with  hides,  we  had  a  brush 
with  the  savages  under  the  most  exciting  circumstances. 
In  the  vicinity  of  where  I  had  determined  to  make  our 
camp,  we  had  encountered  during  the  morning  several 
small  bunches  of  buffalo,  and  the  indications  were  favor- 
able for  many  more  within  a  radius  of  twenty  miles  in 
every  direction.  We  had  fortunately  discovered  quite  a 
large  lagoon,  or  lake,  for  the  prairie  region,  the  very 
place  for  a  center  from  which  to  operate ;  for,  as  the 
reader  has  already  been  informed,  water  is  a  scarce  arti- 
cle on  the  remote  desert,  and  when  discovered  a  party 
will  linger  near  it  until  everything  in  the  shape  of  game 
is  exhausted  in  that  region. 

4 'At  this  favorable  point  we  unhitched  and  unsaddled 


THE  COLONEL  FOOLS  THE  INDIANS 


87 


our  horses,  fed  them  in  boxes  fastened  to  the  rear  of  the 
wagons  and  in  boxes  on  the  ground,  kindled  a  fire,  made 
coffee,  baked  some  biscuit,  broiled  our  buffalo-steak,  and 
after  eating,  discussed  the  situation  for  a  few  moments  and 
felt  as  comfortable  as  if  we  were  sitting  around  our  own 
firesides  in  the  far-eastern  part  of  the  great  State.  Pres- 
ently I  picked  up  my  rifle  and  started  off,  telling  the 
other  men  I  would  walk  to  the  top  of  the  little  divide, 
nearly  a  mile  away,  to  see  if  there  were  any  buffalo  in 
sight.  I  had  proceeded  about  half  the  distance,  when  my 
attention  was  suddenly  attracted  by  an  object  rising  over 
the  crest  of  the  ridge  and  as  quickly  disappearing.  I  felt 
almost  certain  that  what  I  had  seen  was  a  skulking  sav- 
age, but  knew  that  it  would  not  be  discreet  to  retreat,  if 
my  conjectures  were  true,  for  upon  thus  admitting  I  had 
seen  them,  they  would  dash  out  immediately  and  cut  me 
off  from  camp.  I  did  not  by  any  action  indicate  that  I 
had  discovered  them ;  did  not  even  make  any  change  in 
my  gait;  neither  increased  nor  slackened  it,  but  swung 
around  slowly  to  the  left  for  a  few  hundred  yards,  walked 
down  a  little  embankment,  and  was  soon  out  of  their  sight. 
Then  I  made  a  bee  line  for  camp,  or  as  nearly  so  as  the 
topography  of  the  country  would  permit,  and  at  the  same 
time  shield  me  from  view  of  what  I  believed  to  be  Indians. 
When  about  three  hundred  feet  from  the  wagons,  I  emerged 
into  full  sight  of  whatever  might  be  behind  me.  Then  stop- 
ping for  an  instant  and  looking  back,  I  saw  fifteen  of  the 
murderous  savages  dash  down  to  the  very  spot  where  I  had 
first  passed  out  of  their  sight,  they  evidently  supposing 
(as  I  had  intended  they  should)  that  I  had  continued  on 
my  original  course.  If  I  had,  unquestionably  I  should 
have  been  cut  off  from  my  companions  a  full  half-mile 
from  camp.  They  must  have  been  terribly  surprised  and 
angered  when  they  discovered  I  had  completely  circum- 
vented them,  and  wras  safe  in  camp. 

"  I  exclaimed  to  my  comrades,  who  were  engrossed  with 
their  work  around  the  wagons,  '  Look  out ! '    They  at  once 


88 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


comprehended  the  situation  of  affairs,  and  were  ready 
with  their  rifles,  shotguns  and  revolvers.  By  this  time 
the  redskins  were  all  in  line,  coming  directly  toward  us 
as  fast  as  their  ponies  could  carry  them.  I  was  now 
within  about  twenty  feet  of  the  wagons,  where  there  was 
a  small  buffalo-wallow.  Here  I  stood  until  the  savages 
were  within  about  four  hundred  yards  of  us,  then  dropped 
on  one  knee,  leveled  my  rifle  and  drew  a  bead.  But  at 
that  instant  they  all  scattered  in  every  direction,  the 
majority  turning  to  the  left;  then,  uttering  their  diabol- 
ical, blood-curdling  war-whoop,  they  commenced  to  circle 
around  us  in  their  usual  strategic  style.  I  called  out  to 
my  companions  to  lie  down  and  not  shoot  until  I  had 
opened  the  fire ;  to  keep  cool,  and  aim  ahead  of  the  ponies 
one  rod  for  every  hundred  yards  distance. 

"  Our  horses  became  terribly  alarmed,  and  it  was  for- 
tunate we  had  securely  tied  them  to  the  wagons,  or  they 
would  have  stampeded,  been  captured  by  the  savages,  and 
we  left  without  means  of  transportation,  hundreds  of 
miles  from  our  homes. 

"  The  Indians  now  sent  several  balls  whistling  over  our 
heads,  and  were  constantly  pressing  closer  and  closer  in 
upon  us;  yet  we  never  moved  from  our  position,  or  made 
any  demonstration  whatever.  These  tactics,  doubtless, 
put  them  in  a  quandary:  they  evidently  could  not  deter- 
mine whether  we  were  old  hunters,  saving  our  ammuni- 
tion, were  veritable  '  tenderfeet,'  or  were  so  badly  scared 
that  we  dared  not  fire.  A  few  moments  later  their  doubts 
were  speedily  dissolved,  for  when  they  had  crowded  in 
until  I  could  plainly  see  the  ears  of  their  horses,  having 
by  this  time  calculated  the  distance  pretty  well,  I  cried 
out,  'All  ready,  boys!  '  raised  myself  on  one  knee,  aimed 
two  rods  ahead  of  the  front  horse,  and  fired ;  and  by  the 
puff  of  dust  raised  by  the  ball  knew  it  had  struck  about  a 
foot  behind  the  animal's  hind  foot,  directly  in  the  rear. 
Then  I  knew  well  what  to  do  next  time :  I  aimed  a  little 
farther  in  front,  and  four  feet  higher,  touched  the  hair- 


A  BATTLE  WITH  ARRAPAHOES 


89 


trigger  at  the  instant,  and  watched  the  result  of  my  shot 
with  as  much  confidence  as  though  I  had  the  pony  so 
near  I  could  have  touched  him  with  my  rifle.  Spat  ! 
went  the  ball,  and  instantly  the  bald-faced  animal  rolled 
over  and  over.  Its  rider  was  on  his  feet  before  the  animal 
was  off  his,  running  away  like  a  wild  turkey.  Having 
thus  disposed  of  one  of  the  red  devils,  I  turned  my  bat- 
tery on  the  last  of  the  savages,  and  sent  a  ball  which 
crippled  his  horse  very  badly ;  yet  the  scared  Indian  ap- 
plied his  whip  so  vigorously  that  he  soon  reached  the 
same  little  4  cut-bank '  that  had  served  me  so  kindly  a 
short  time  before.  My  men  sent  many  shots  into  them, 
and  claimed  several  horses  were  badly  wounded. 

44  Immediately  after  this  last  essay  of  ours,  everyone 
of  the  bewildered  savages  was  out  of  sight.  We  then 
walked  out  to  look  around  the  field  of  battle.  On  reach- 
ing the  prominence  which  shielded  the  Indians,  if  any  of 
them  remained  in  the  vicinity,  we  found  that  as  far  as 
our  vision  extended  there  was  nothing  but  the  tracks  of 
their  ponies  visible,  as  they  had  hurried  off.  We  then 
returned  to,  the  spot  where  the  pony  I  had  shot  was  toss- 
ing in  his  agony,  throwing  his  head  about,  and  appearing 
to  suffer  the  greatest  misery.  I  found  the  ball  from  my 
rifle  had  struck  him  in  the  right  shoulder  and  passed  out 
just  at  the  point  of  his  other  shoulder,  crushing  the  bone 
in  its  passage.  In  his  fall  he  had  skinned  his  side  terri- 
bly by  coming  in  contact  with  the  hard,  dry  ground.  A 
ball  from  the  revolver  of  one  of  my  companions  put  the 
poor  brute  out  of  pain.  And  thus  ended  what  might  have 
been  a  bloody  fight  had  we  not  known  how  to  deal  with 
the  merciless  redskins. 

44  The  band  which  had  attacked  us  belonged  to  a  party 
of  Arrapahoes  that  had  been  harassing  the  hunters  in  the 
region  for  more  than  a  week  previously  to  our  entering 
the  valley,  but  they  did  not  show  up  afterward. 

44  We  kept  out  a  strong  guard  that  night,  and  the  next 
day  killed  sixteen  buffalo.    We  pulled  out  for  the  station 


90 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


the  following  morning  with  a  full  load  of  fine  skins,  for 
which  we  received  two  dollars  and  thirty-five  cents  each 
—  an  excellent  remuneration  for  our  work. 

"As  an  Indian-fighter,  I  must  admit  that  I  never  es- 
pecially desired  to  get  into  battle  with  the  savage ;  nor  do 
I  care  to  boast  of  scores  of  scalps,  as  some  self-styled 
plainsmen  do ;  was  always  more  famous  for  keeping  out 
of  the  way  of  the  wily  nomads  than  for  seeking  their 
hiding-places  and  'itching  for  a  fight.'  The  'daredevil' 
type,  or  what  some  would  term,  brave  men,  seldom  if  ever 
survived  those  troublesome  days.  I  may  have  killed  an 
Indian  or  two ;  if  I  did,  no  one  will  ever  be  the  wiser,  as  I 
do  not  possess  any  Indian  scalps, — hope  none  will  accuse 
me  of  so  doing.  I  must  confess,  that  in  those  trouble- 
some days  I  would  as  soon  have  killed  an  Indian  as  a  rat- 
tlesnake. 

"  Some  people  will  doubtless  say  I  was  a  hard-hearted 
and  strange  sort  of  a  frontiersman.  To  all  such  let  me 
say  that  they  never  have  passed  through  the  scenes,  trials 
and  tribulations  incident  to  a  life  on  the  Plains,  as  I 
have,  for  if  they  had  they  would  agree  with  me  in  my 
statements  regarding  the  4  children  of  the  prairie.'  If 
you  had  been  with  me  from  1869  to  1886,  (a  period  ex- 
tending over  seventeen  years,)  harassed,  hounded  and 
haunted  by  these  savages  ;  compelled  to  go  hungry,  thirsty 
and  sleepless ;  losing  cattle  and  horses  through  their  dev- 
ilish machinations ;  and  had  seen  with  your  own  eyes,  as 
I  have,  scores  of  innocent  people  mutilated,  tortured,  and 
even  butchered,  simply  because  they  were  of  the  hated 
white  race, — it  would  be  indeed  a  strange  thing  not  to 
have  sworn  eternal  vengeance  against  the  perpetrators 
of  such  hellish  deeds.  True,  '  time  cures  all  ills,'  and  it 
has  made  me  recant  many  of  the  vows  made  in  my  earlier 
and  callow  days  on  the  frontier;  still,  I  remember  their 
detestable  deeds  as  if  they  were  committed  but  yester- 
day, and  cannot  say  I  have  altogether  relented,  and  am 
certain  they  have  not  gained  any  more  love  for  me  than 


INDIANS  CONQUERED  BY  BUFFALO-HUNTERS  91 

they  originally  entertained  when  I  was  counted  as  a  '  ten- 
derfoot '  in  their  estimation.  I  have  ever  dealt  with  them 
in  the  sternest  and  most  determined  manner,  always 
demanding  my  legitimate  rights  under  almost  every  cir- 
cumstance, yielding  to  them  an  equally  honest  adjust- 
ment of  theirs,  believing  that  by  thus  acting  I  have 
warded  off  many  a  severe  encounter  and  saved  myself  and 
party  much  suffering,  to  say  nothing  of  possible  death. 

' '  The  great  generals  and  those  in  authority  in  the 
United  States  have  been  credited  with  subduing  the  red 
warriors  of  the  Plains,  but  such  is  not  the  case.  The 
buffalo-hunters  conquered  the  whole  Indian  race  —  not 
by  unerring  aim  at  the  red  devils  themselves,  while  per- 
chance they  encircled  the  camp,  or  in  combat  when  they 
often  met;  but  simply  by  slaying  the  buffalo,  and  there- 
by cutting  off  their  source  of  supplies.  As  soon  as  the 
red  man  was  compelled  to  beg  or  starve,  then  his  proud 
heart  broke,  and  he  plead  for  mercy  at  the  feet  of  the 
paleface ;  while  as  long  as  the  buffalo  lasted  he  was 
richer  than  a  millionaire,  defied  and  baffled  the  greatest 
generals  and  the  most  formidable  armies  of  the  United 
States  and  Canada,  but  at  last  was  compelled  to  bow  to 
the  inevitable  buffalo-hunter  of  no  pretensions. 

"  It  will  be  expected,  probably,  in  this  chapter  that  I 
relate  somewhat  of  the  habits  of  the  Indians ;  their  man- 
ner of  living,  their  social  customs  and  tribal  affairs.  In 
answer  to  this  expectancy  on  the  part  of  my  readers,  I 
can  only  say  that  I  really  know  but  little  about  their 
social  relations;  yet  I  do  know  some  things,  more  than  I 
care  to  divulge,  as  the  relation  of  the  facts  would  only 
disgust  and  shock  the  senses  of  the  refined.  Therefore  I 
have  let  them  severely  alone  in  this  narrative. 

46 1  always  took  especial  care  to  avoid  the  presence  of 
the  Indians ;  never  would  permit,  them  to  loiter  around 
my  camp  if  I  could  possibly  avoid  it.  True,  sometimes 
they  were  too  numerous,  and  I  have  been  compelled  to 
put  up  with  some  of  their  impudence;  but  this  rarely 


92 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


occurred,  as  I  treated  them  in  such  a  determined  way 
they  took  the  hint  ( I  really  believed  they  feared  me) 
and  would  incontinently  clear  out. 

"  On  one  occasion,  while  hunting,  one  of  my  horses  fell 
over  an  embankment  and  was  killed.  I  could  not  keep  up 
the  hunt  without  another,  so  made  straight  for  a  camp  of 
Kiowa  Indians,  about  ten  miles  away.  There  must  have 
been  a  thousand  of  them  on  a  great  buffalo-hunt,  laying 
in  meat  for  winter.  At  my  approach  there  was  quite  a 
scramble  among  the  half-naked  outfit.  An  old  chief  came 
out  to  meet  me,  with  bow  strung  and  arrow  in  place.  My 
salute  to  him  was,  '  Good  Injun  ?  '  He  replied,  4  Good  In- 
jun.' I  dismounted,  and  by  that  time  a  half-dozen  lesser 
chiefs  and  braves  surrounded  me.  I  said  to  the  chief, 
*  Sell  pony  ?  '  He  answered,  '  Big  chief,  me.  Heap  ponies. 
Got  money?'  'Yes,'  was  my  reply.  He  immediately 
reached  out  his  hand,  saying,  '  Me  see.'  I  had  not  been 
accustomed  to  doing  business  in  that  way,  and  shook  my 
head,  giving  him  to  understand  that  when  I  got  the  ponies 
he  got  the  money,  and  not  before.  I  held  four  five-dollar 
bills  in  my  hand,  but  was  careful  that  he  did  not  grab 
them.  He  made  a  reach  for  them,  but  I  quickly  drew 
them  back.  Upon  this  he  gave  a  characteristic  '  Ugh  ! 
Ugh  !  '  grasped  his  arrow  and  pulled  the  string  until  his 
bow  was  nearly  double,  and  sent  the  arrow  into  the  soft 
marshy  ground,  nearly  out  of  sight,  and  walked  directly 
toward  his  tent,  never  looking  back,  skulking  off  like  a 
spoiled  child. 

"  Presently  another  chief  spoke  up:  4  Heap  chief,  Big 
Bow,  much  mad;  sell  no  ponies.  One  sleep,  come;  heap 
money,  good  pony.'  This  was  very  easily  understood,  and 
I  made  straight  for  my  camp;  took  pains  not  to  return, 
but  moved  about  ten  miles  to  where  some  men  were 
camped  on  a  hunt,  and  bought  a  pony  for  less  money  than 
the  Indians  wanted,  and  already  broke  to  harness. 

"  Once,  while  camping  on  the  headwaters  of  the  South 
Fork  of  the  Solomon  river,  in  western  Kansas,  I  had  wan- 


NEARLY  CAUGHT  WHILE  SKINNING  A  BUFFALO  93 

dered  about  six  miles  from  my  wagon,  and  had  killed 
five  buffaloes.  It  was  an  hour  before  sundown,  and  as 
may  be  imagined,  I  was  very  busy  stripping  the  hides  off 
the  animals.  I  was  leaning  over  the  carcass  of  the  last 
of  the  five,  just  putting  the  finishing  touches  to  my  work, 
when,  happening  to  glance  under  my  left  arm  toward  the 
rear,  I  saw  two  Indians  approaching,  tiptoeing  along  in  a 
crouched  position.  I  did  not  rise  from  my  position,  but 
walked  in  my  cramped  attitude  to  the  opposite  side  of 
the  beast  I  was  skinning,  picked  up  my  rifle,  and  leveled 
it  on  the  red  devils  before  they  were  aware  their  presence 
was  discovered.  They  were  not  more  than  seventy  yards 
distant,  when  I  exclaimed,  'Halt!  '  The  Indian  in  front 
raised  himself  to  his  full  height  and  cried,  'Good  Injun, 
me !  '  at  the  same  instant  striking  himself  on  the  breast 
with  his  right  hand,  while  holding  his  gun  in  his  left. 
'  Vamoose !  '  I  thundered  out,  as  he  continued  to  ap- 
proach. 

"  '  Big  Indian,  me;  good  Indian,  me,'  he  said  again. 

"  'Good  Indian  goes  around,'  I  replied;  but  he  still 
advanced.  I  brought  down  my  rifle  on  the  old  chief  in 
such  a  determined  manner  that  he  knew  very  well  what 
to  expect  next.  He  halted,  and  fairly  danced  up  and 
down,  chattering  all  the  time  like  a  monkey  that  had 
been  struck  in  the  eye  with  a  quid  of  tobacco.  He  yelled 
.  out  three  times,  'Red  man's  cattle;  do,  do.'  But  all  I 
did  was  to  yell  back  at  him,  '  Vamoose,  or  I'll  kill  you !  ' 
He  immediately  led  off  to  the  right,  and  the  young  buck 
followed. 

"I  then  resumed  skinning  the  buffalo  I  was  engaged 
on,  and  appeared  terribly  brave,  while  really  I  was  dis- 
turbed, and  guarantee  there  were  more  holes  in  that  hide 
than  there  are  in  the  bottom  of  a  sieve,  as  I  kept  my  eyes 
on  the  Indians  continually,  for  I  did  not  know  how  many 
of  the  devils  might  be  in  the  vicinity,  and  my  scalp  might 
be  in  serious  danger.  After  the  savages  had  withdrawn, 
and  were  about  half  a  mile  distant,  an  antelope  com- 


94 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


menced  to  circle  around  them,  presently  stopping  to  gaze 
on  the  red  blankets  which  both  wore.  Soon,  'bang!' 
went  one  of  the  guns,  and  I  plainly  heard  the  ball  spat, 
and  saw  the  poor  animal  attempt  to  dash  away.  He 
reared,  walked  a  few  steps  backward  on  his  hind  feet,  and 
fell  dead.  The  Indians  each  cut  off  a  quarter  of  the  ani- 
mal, packed  them  on  their  shoulders,  and  leisurely  saun- 
tered off  toward  the  northwest.  I  watched  them  until 
they  were  out  of  sight,  finished  my  work,  and  walked  six 
miles  to  camp,  congratulating  myself  that  I  did  not  meet 
the  fate  of  the  antelope. 

"  The  first  thing  I  did  on  arriving  in  camp  was  to  order 
everything  moved  about  five  miles  to  the  east,  so  as  to 
preclude  the  probability  of  an  engagement  with  the  sav- 
ages that  night,  as  they  would  endeavor  to  get  even  with 
me  for  the  manner  in  which  I  had  treated  them ;  and  how 
many  of  them  might  be  prowling  about,  we  had  no  means 
of  even  guessing. 

"  It  must  have  been  nearly  midnight  when  we  again 
pitched  our  camp,  this  time  in  a  deep  ravine  a  half-mile 
from  the  bank  of  the  river,  where  wre  remained  unmolested 
for  another  week,  hunting  buffalo.  The  second  day  after 
moving  camp  I  chanced  to  be  in  the  vicinity  of  the  old 
camp,  and  discovered  that  the  Indians  had  been  there,  in 
anticipation,  no  doubt,  of  finding  us  napping.  By  the 
number  of  pony-tracks  plainly  visible  in  the  soft  sand  on 
both  sides  of  the  stream,  the  band  must  have  comprised 
at  least  thirty  or  forty.  It  is  wonderful  how  quickly  one 
Indian  can  find  another  when  relief  is  desired  or  assist- 
ance required.  No  matter  how  great  the  distance,  within 
a  reasonable  number  of  miles,  help  is  always  forthcoming 
with  a  certainty  that  is  astonishing,  and  seems  impossi- 
ble without  the  aid  of  telegraph  or  telephone  wires.  Of 
course  nothing  of  the  kind  is  employed ;  they  communi- 
cate only  by  a  series  of  signs,  strange  and  symbolical  in 
their  nature,  yet  understood  perfectly  by  every  member 
of  the  tribe,  and  unfailing  in  their  correctness  and  effect- 


HUNTING  BUFFALO  FOR  THEIR  HIDES 


95 


iveness.  Some  of  these  means  are  brands  of  fire  by  night, 
in  daytime  by  smoke,  and  by  gestures  if  within  sight  of 
each  other  and  on  foot,  or  by  the  motion  they  make  their 
horses  undergo  if  mounted ;  also,  by  little  pieces  of  sticks 
stuck  in  the  ground  on  the  trail,  or  by  mounds  of  dirt  or 
grass,  or  by  a  rag,  if  walking  but  out  of  sight  of  those 
whom  they  wish  to  communicate  with  and  they  know  are 
to  come  that  way.  By  this  silent  language  they  can  con- 
vey to  their  distant  comrades  what  they  wish  done  as 
readily  as  if  they  could  talk  to  them. 

"In  the  spring  of  1872  I  was  on  a  hunt  for  hides, 
drifting  with  the  main  herd  of  buffalo  to  the  northwest, 
having  encountered  the  vanguard  at  a  point  on  the  South 
Fork  of  the  Solomon,  where  the  mass  of  shaggy  animals 
crossed  that  stream.  Let  me  interpolate  here,  that  the 
buffalo  always  migrate  two  or  three  hundred  miles  north 
in  the  spring,  returning  late  in  the  fall  to  their  winter 
feeding-grounds.  Aware  of  this  fact,  I  had  learned  by 
years  of  experience  that  when  they  were  thus  on  their 
annual  move  it  was  much  easier  to  kill  those  animals  at 
the  head  of  the  herd  than  those  at  the  rear,  as  the  latter 
always  stampeded  and  rushed  by  if  I  opened  fire  upon 
them,  while  the  leaders  if  shot  at  would  never  turn  back 
any  considerable  distance,  evidently  persistently  opposed 
to  retracing  their  steps  toward  the  place  from  whence 
they  had  started,  and  would  also  linger  a  day  or  two  be- 
fore venturing  to  pass  a  creek,  river  or  canon  where  there 
appeared  any  danger  ahead.  Under  such  circumstances, 
where  they  had  been  fired  at  as  I  have  related,  wTe  would 
in  those  two  or  three  days  do  the  most  effective  work  of 
our  trip.  Then,  after  slaughtering  all  it  was  possible  to 
secure,  we  would  stretch  and  peg  the  hides  on  the  prairie, 
flesh  side  up,  and  make  a  rapid  drive  of  thirty  or  forty 
miles,  and  thus  get  in  ahead  of  the  herd  again. 

"  Once,  when  we  had  made  one  of  these  hurried  trips, 
and  were  past  the  front  of  the  buffaloes  some  three  miles, 
we  rolled  at  a  lively  gait  down  to  a  stream  near  the  Ne- 


96 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


braska  line,  which  I  knew  to  be  the  South  Fork  of  the 
Republican  river.  We  made  straight  for  a  clump  of 
timber,  where  we  camped  and  took  a  lunch.  I  then 
jumped  on  my  pony  and  hastened  back  to  a  high  point, 
where  I  could  overlook  the  whole  country  and  watch  the 
movement  of  the  slowly  approaching  herd,  in  order  to  be 
ready  to  take  every  advantage  of  it.  Just  as  I  was  ad- 
justing my  field-glasses  to  focus  on  the  mass  of  buffalo 
two  miles  off  to  the  south,  an  Indian  rode  out  from  the 
west  side  of  the  hill,  and  came  directly  toward  me,  rais- 
ing his  hand  to  salute  me  as  he  approached.  I  saw  at  a 
glance  he  was  possessed  of  bow  and  arrows  only,  so  I  re- 
turned his  greeting  with  a  signal  that  he  might  come 
to  me. 

"  When  he  rode  up  I  discovered  he  was  a  Pawnee,  off 
his  reservation.  He  was  a  chief  —  a  'Big  Indian,  heap 
ponies,'  and  his  tribe  was  not  considered  hostile;  so  I 
was  really  delighted  to  see  even  an  Indian  in  that  God- 
forsaken country,  as  it  was  at  that  time.  He  could  talk 
fairly  good  English,  and  told  me  he  was  one  of  two  hun- 
dred who  were  in  camp  sixteen  miles  distant  from  where 
we  stood,  out  on  a  buffalo  hunt,  but  they  had  not  as  yet 
seen  even  a  straggling  animal ;  that  they  were  out  of 
meat,  nearly  starving,  and  were  dancing,  and  asking  the 
Great  Spirit  to  send  back  the  buffalo.  I  pointed  out  the 
approaching  herd  of  the  coveted  beasts,  and  he  imme- 
diately gave  vent  to  his  feelings  of  joy  by  crying  out, 
'  Heap  buffalo  !  Heap  buffalo  !  '  His  eyes  fairly  flashed 
with  the  prospect  of  getting  food  for  his  hungry  people 
and  raising  himself  a  notch  higher  in  his  tribe  as  being  a 
successful  chief.  After  looking  scrutinizingly  upon  the 
huge  beasts  in  the  distance,  he  exclaimed  again,  'Yes! 
Sure!  Sure!  '  I  replied,  'Yes,  sure!  '  and  handed  him 
my  field-glasses,  but  he  shook  his  head  as  he  looked  at 
the  (to  him)  strange  things,  and  said,  'Two  guns;  kill 
Injun.'  I  shook  my  head  negatively  in  return,  fixed 
them  to  my  eyes,  and  said,  '  Big  heaps  buffalo,'  and  then 


SIGNALING  FOR  AID  AT  LONG  DISTANCE  97 

placed  the  glasses  to  his  eyes ;  and  as  he  saw  the  appar- 
ently close  herd,  he  shouted,  6  Ugh!  Here  already!  ' — at 
the  same  moment  thumping  the  sides  of  his  pony  with  his 
legs,  and,  laying  himself  flat  along  the  back  of  his  ani- 
mal, he  dashed  off  until  he  had  ridden  about  fifty  yards 
in  the  opposite  direction  from  the  buffalo,  and  had  got- 
ten behind  the  hill,  in  order  to  hide  from  the  animals. 
I  never  saw  a  more  surprised  individual  in  all  my  life, 
than  was  this  Indian  on  looking  through  the  glasses. 
Having  no  conception  of  the  laws  of  optics,  he  supposed, 
as  he  looked  at  the  buffalo,  magnified  as  they  were  by  the 
glass,  that  they  were  rapidly  advancing,  and  already 
nearly  within  range  of  his  weapon. 

"  Recovering  from  his  bewilderment  arxd  now  grasping 
the  true  condition  of  affairs,  he  pulled  from  his  pony  an 
old  red  blanket,  took  hold  of  its  opposite  corners,  one  in 
each  hand,  remounted,  and  then,  of  all  the  'fluttering  in 
the  breeze '  I  never  before  saw  anything  to  equal  that  of 
this  blanket  under  the  manipulation  of  the  Pawnee.  The 
Indian  was  signaling  to  his  comrades  that  there  were 
4  buffalo  in  abundance.'  I  could  discover  nothing  in  any 
direction  that  indicated  the  presence  of  other  Indians,  al- 
though I  scrutinized  every  point  of  the  vast  expanse,  that 
was  cut  off  only  by  the  great  circle  of  the  heavens.  He 
too  was  evidently  keeping  a  sharp  lookout,  and  presently 
pointing  toward  the  northeast,  called  my  attention  to 
that  portion  of  the  horizon.  I  could  not,  however,  dis- 
cern anything  until  I  had  adjusted  the  field-glass  to  my 
eyes,  when,  sure  enough,  in  the  dim  distance,  far  beyond 
the  river,  on  a  side-hill,  I  could  make  out  a  band  of  men 
on  horseback,  who  appeared  to  be  moving  toward  us.  On 
the  very  summit  of  the  elevation  I  saw  another  detached 
figure,  apparently  an  image  of  the  Indian  by  my  side,  who 
was  also  waving  his  blanket  in  response  to  the  signal  he 
recognized  at  that  immense  distance.  He  was  repeating 
the  glad  tidings  to  Indians  beyond  our  sight.  It  is  won- 
derful, as  I  have  previously  affirmed,  how  penetrating  is 
—  7 


98 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


the  vision  of  the  savages  of  the  Plains.  Here,  where  I 
could  observe  nothing  with  my  naked  eyes  (and  they  were 
considered  as  good  as  any  that  scanned  the  Plains),  the 
chief  at  my  side  had  discovered  what  required  the  aid  of 
the  glass  for  me  to  discern.  In  this  particular  the  white 
man  blushes  for  his  inferiority. 

"In  a  few  seconds  the  Pawnee  again  pointed  to  the  east 
with  his  whip,  and  I  could  now  plainly  see  four  men  on 
horseback  coming  toward  us  from  the  direction  indicated, 
one  of  whom  was  waving  his  blanket  vigorously,  convey- 
ing the  news  to  others  beyond,  as  did  the  first.  In  less 
than  half  an  hour  there  were  fully  six  distinct  groups  of 
Indians  moving  rapidly  toward  where  we  stood,  and  in  an 
hour's  time  more  than  a  hundred  Pawnee  warriors  were 
ready  for  one  of  the  most  desperate  struggles  for  food, 
perhaps,  ever  undertaken;  and  others  were  continually 
arriving. 

"  The  herd  was  feeding  slowly,  and  was  surely  advanc- 
ing toward  the  river.  We  stood  passively  where  we  were, 
watching  their  seemingly  lazy  movements,  impatient  of 
the  time  to  commence  active  operations.  In  a  few  mo- 
ments one  of  the  chiefs  rode  up  to  me  and  said :  '  Me  go 
to  woods  to  hide ;  come  too  ?  '  I  bowed  my  acquiescence, 
and  followed  him.  The  Indians  stationed  themselves  un- 
der the  bluffs  that  paralleled  the  stream,  when,  leaving 
them  here,  I  rode  down  the  bank  until  I  arrived  at  my 
camp  and  explained  the  situation  of  affairs  to  my  com- 
panions, who  had  by  this  time  become  very  much  alarmed 
for  my  safety.  In  fact,  so  disturbed  were  they  when  they 
saw  so  many  Indians  in  the  distance,  that  they  had  hid- 
den themselves  in  brush-heaps,  and  only  my  familiar  voice 
brought  them  out  from  their  refuge,  when  I  told  them  to 
be  prepared  to  witness  one  of  the  greatest  '  circuses  '  they 
could  ever  hope  to  see  again. 

"  The  herd  of  buffalo  soon  made  its  appearance  about  a 
mile  away  across  the  valley.  The  animals  were  now  wan- 
dering down  a  ravine,  as  they  usually  do  when  traveling, 


INDIAN  METHOD  OF  HUNTING  BUFFALO 


99 


and  were  heading  for  a  point  half  a  mile  west  of  where  we 
were  standing,  and  directly  toward  the  main  group  of  In- 
dians, who  were  '  on  the  anxious  seat.'  Now  we  could  see 
the  interest  the  hungry  savages  took  in  their  prospective 
dinner.  They  were  very  active,  hustling  backward  and 
forward,  and  talking  in  their  silent  but  expressive  sign- 
language  (so  perfect  in  its  symbolization) ,  so  as  not  to 
let  a  sound  escape  which  might  stampede  the  buffalo. 
The  wind  was  favorable,  being  strong  from  the  south.  On 
either  side  of  the  ravine  there  was  a  little  ridge,  which 
gave  them  every  opportunity  to  outwit  the  wary  brutes. 
On  came  the  shaggy  monsters,  thicker  and  thicker,  until 
they  appeared  like  a  great  cloud  or  a  cluster  of  bees  work- 
ing around  a  hive.  It  was  a  grand  sight,  never  to  be  again 
witnessed  by  this  or  generations  to  come. 

''The  Indians  divided  into  two  parties,  one  going  to  the 
east  side  of  the  ridge,  the  other  to  the  west  side,  until 
their  line  extended  fully  half  a  mile  from  the  river  to- 
ward the  bluffs.  Arriving  at  their  proper  stations,  one 
Indian  from  each  line  dismounted,  walked  to  the  crest  of 
the  low  divide,  and  peeped  over.  Here  each,  by  signaling, 
gave  information  to  his  companions  of  the  motions  of 
the  herd.  Finally  these  scouts  ran  back  to  their  ponies, 
mounted,  and  rode  rapidly  to  the  upper  end  of  the  line  of 
savages,  then  rode  toward  each  other,  where  they  met  in 
the  low  swag  of  bottom  land  that  lay  between  the  two 
ridges  and  in  the  rear  of  the  herd.  Not  a  word  was  spoken 
until  they  had  nearly  reached  each  other,  with  the  long 
lines  of  their  companions  closing  up  behind  them.  At 
this  juncture  there  arose  such  a  yell  in  concert  from  the 
throats  of  the  watchful  savages,  never  before  or  since  heard 
by  me,  that  fairly  deafened  my  ordinarily  tough  ears.  A 
thousand  coyotes  struggling  and  fighting  in  the  midnight 
hour  on  the  remote  plains  over  the  carcass  of  an  old  buf- 
falo bull  driven  out  of  the  herd,  bears  no  comparison. 
Although  horrible  and  blood-curdling,  as  anyone  will  at- 
test who  has  ever  heard  it,  it  is  as  the  soft  spring  breeze 


100 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


compared  to  that  awful  whoop  of  the  Pawnees,  which 
will  never  pass  from  my  memory  though  I  should  live  to 
a  patriarchal  age. 

"  While  all  this  commotion  was  going  on  in  the  ranks 
of  the  warriors,  the  guards  just  over  the  ridges  remained 
in  their  places,  but  kept  up  the  wild  yells,  until  the  herd 
reached  the  crest  of  the  little  divides  both  on  the  east  and 
west,  and  those  along  the  river-bank  took  up  the  piercing 
yell  afresh,  which  reverberated  through  every  little  valley 
and  mass  of  rock  bordering  the  stream,  until  it  awakened 
the  echoes  of  the  very  prairie  in  its  wildness. 

"  The  herd,  which  must  have  contained  at  least  two 
thousand  buffalo,  now  surrounded  by  the  strategy  of  the 
Indians,  attempted  to  stampede,  about  half  running  to 
the  east,  the  others  to  the  west, —  none  daring  to  essay 
the  passage  of  the  river,  although  but  few  Indians  were 
stationed  there. 

u  When  the  affrighted  herd  caught  sight  of  the  Indians 
and  heard  their  awful  yell  on  either  side  of  them,  the  two 
bands  of  the  bewildered  brutes  circled  around  and  rushed 
in  opposite  directions.  About  a  dozen  of  the  now  excited 
Indians,  mounted  on  the  fleetest  of  the  ponies,  pressed 
them  on,  and  the  noise  they  made  seemed  like  Pande- 
monium broke  loose.  The  chasing  savages  fired  at  the 
poor  brutes  with  their  revolvers,  and  the  two  herds  met 
in  a  few  moments  with  a  shock  as  terrible  as  would  be 
that  of  colliding  express  trains.  Just  before  the  dreadful 
collision,  the  Indians  whirled  their  ponies  and  rejoined 
the  line  of  guards  they  had  started  from.  At  the  instant 
these  scouts  retraced  their  steps,  the  buffalo  in  their  mad- 
dened fright  followed  them  until  they  reached  the  ridge, 
where  they  were  again  greeted  with  a  demoniacal  yell 
which  caused  them  to  circle  again,  and  back  they  fairly 
flew,  followed  as  before  by  about  a  dozen  fresh  Indians. 
This  peculiar  strategy  was  continued  for  fully  an  hour, 
by  which  time  the  poor  brutes  were  so  exhausted  and 
crippled  they  could  scarcely  raise  a  gallop.    Now,  taking 


THE  COLONEL  KILLS  THE  CRIPPLED  BUFFALO  101 

advantage  of  the  physical  condition  of  their  game,  the 
Indians  were  in  the  center  of  the  herd,  on  the  outside, 
and  everywhere, —  shooting  with  their  revolvers,  or  spear- 
ing them  with  lances  made  of  steel,  bound  with  rawhide 
to  the  end  of  long  poles. 

"  Finally,  so  desperate  had  the  poor  creatures  become, 
that  they  mustered  up  courage  to  break  through  the 
cordon  of  savages  to  the  west,  and  thus  escaped  further 
torment  from  their  pursuers. 

u  During  the  terrible  and  exciting  encounter  I  had  been 
seated  on  my  horse  viewing  the  unequal  contest  with  great 
interest,  though  moved  by  that  natural  pity  which  wells 
up  in  the  human  breast  sometimes,  under  the  most  adverse 
conditions,  and  I  was  really  glad  when  the  conflict  was 
over. 

' 4 I  now  rode  out  to  the  scene  of  the  battle,  where  there 
were  more  than  a  dozen  wounded  buffalo  still  standing  on 
their  feet.  They  were  dangerous  creatures  to  approach  in 
that  condition,  but  some  of  the  Indians  ventured  to  rush 
by  them,  endeavoring  to  finish  them  with  their  revolvers 
as  they  passed,  but  made  very  indifferent  progress.  I  car- 
ried a  '  forty-four '  sporting  rifle  (  Sharps'),  and  asked  one 
of  the  chiefs  if  I  might  shoot  the  crippled  buffalo  for  him. 
He  replied,  '  Yes,  if  you  can.'  I  then  knelt  on  one  knee. 
1  Bang!  '  went  the  great  gun,  which  on  the  evening  breeze 
resounded  sharply  on  the  calm  air.  One  cow  tumbled 
over,  and  the  Indians,  attracted  by  the  report,  stood  as  if 
a  clap  of  thunder  had  suddenly  burst  from  the  cloudless 
heavens.  I  fired  again,  and  a  second  buffalo  rolled  on  the 
ground.  The  savages  then  began  to  retreat  from  the  vi- 
cinity of  the  remaining  wounded  animals,  and  as  fast  as 
I  could  load  and  fire  they  tumbled  over  one  by  one,  until 
the  last  was  dead.  I  don't  know  why,  but  every  shot 
was  better  than  usual.  The  old  chief  was  so  excited  and 
pleased  at  my  success,  he  jumped  off  his  pony,  caught  me 
by  the  hand,  in  his  enthusiasm,  and  exclaimed:  "Esta 
wano!    Heap  big  white  man!  "    (Esta  bueno,  is  the  pure 


102 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


Spanish  for  what  he  intended  to  convey,  but,  like  the 
'  Greasers  '  in  New  Mexico  with  their  Spanish,  and  the  old 
mediaeval  monks  with  their  Latin,  they  corrupt  the  6b,' 
giving  it  the  sound  of  'w.'  ) 

' '  It  was  only  a  few  moments  until  the  entire  two  hun- 
dred Indians  crowded  around  me,  making  the  air  hideous 
with  their  congratulations  in  corrupted  Spanish;  after 
which  they  all  hurried  off  to  secure  the  delicious  humps 
and  hams  of  the  great  game.  These  they  bound  upon 
their  ponies  and  started  for  their  camp,  nearly  every  one 
of  them  chewing  a  piece  of  the  raw  flesh  as  he  moved 
away. 

4 'After  the  Indians  had  departed,  I  counted  up  their 
day's  work.  I  supposed,  of  course,  from  their  demon- 
strations and  hurrahs,  I  would  find  at  least  a  hundred 
dead  buffaloes,  but  imagine  my  disgust  when  the  total 
numbered  only  forty-one ! 

"  Knowing  the  whole  band  would  move  to  the  spot  the 
next  day,  we  drove  about  five  miles  to  the  southwest  that 
evening,  where  we  had  fine  shooting  for  nearly  a  week,  as 
the  Indians  guarded  the  river,  which  the  herd  was  chary 
of  attempting  to  cross." 


CHAPTER  VII 


PRAIRIE-FIRES 

REMINDERS    OF    THE    WORLD'S    PROMISED    DESTRUCTION  — 

STARTED    BY    HOSTILE    INDIANS  DAYLIGHT    TURNED  TO 

DARKNESS  AND  DARKNESS  TO  LIGHT  PEOPLE  DRIVEN  INTO 

THEIR  HOUSES  AND   CELLARS  COMPELLED    TO  BREATHE 

THROUGH    HANDKERCHIEFS    AND    TOWELS    TO  SEPARATE 

ASHES  FROM   AIR  WILD   ANIMALS  FLEEING  BEFORE  THE 

WRATHY  FLAMES  PASSES  WITH  THE  ROAR  OF  A  CY- 
CLONE EVERYONE  TO  THE  RESCUE — THE  ONLY  WAY  TO 

ESCAPE  ON  THE  PRAIRIE  —  WILD  ANIMALS  BURNED  TO  A 
CRISP. 

THERE  is,  or  rather,  was,  no  more  sublime  sight 
than  that  of  a  prairie-fire  in  the  early  days  of 
our  pioneer  civilization  on  the  Great  Plains  — 
now  a  thing  of  the  past,  as  the  region  is  com- 
paratively well  settled,  and  each  recurring  year  is  lessen- 
ing their  probability.  Some  of  the  most  awful  in  their 
results  were  purposely  started  by  the  Indians,  who  were 
jealous  of  the  constant  encroachment  of  the  whites  upon 
what  the  savage  was  pleased  to  call  his  own  domain,  and 
adopted  this  method,  among  their  many  devilish  plans  of 
driving  off  the  intruders,  whose  cattle  and  horses  suffered 
fearfully  by  being  deprived  of  their  pasture  in  this  man- 
ner. At  the  present  time  these  fires,  while  of  course 
limited  in  area,  are  still  formidable,  and  rarely  occur  ex- 
cepting through  the  carelessness  of  the  individual  upon 
whose  land  they  originate.  Sometimes  a  spark  from  a 
passing  locomotive  is  the  cause,  and  the  effect  is  disas- 

(103) 


104 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


trous  to  whole  neighborhoods.  Colonel  Jones  records  one 
of  the  mighty  conflagrations  in  his  journal,  which  I  here 
give  verbatim : 

"In  the  fall  of  1872  there  occurred  in  Russell  and 
Osborne  counties,  Kansas,  one  of  the  most  destructive 
prairie-fires  that  ever  swept  over  any  country ;  not  likely 
to  again  happen. 

"  It  was  in  October,  that  month  of  incomparable  beauty 
on  the  Great  Plains.  There  had  been  an  abundance  of 
rain  in  the  early  spring  and  during  the  summer ;  conse- 
quently all  upland  vegetation  had  grown  phenomenally 
rank.  Every  acre  of  every  ravine  and  little  valley  was 
covered  with  a  luxuriance  of  vegetable  matter  unprece- 
dented in  the  memory  of  the  oldest  hunters. 

" About  the  first  of  August,  what  is  usually  a  constant 
feature  of  our  intracontinental  climate  occurred :  the 
windows  of  heaven  were  closed,  the  rains  and  dews  ceas- 
ing to  fall.  Then  commenced  those  simoons,  the  hot, 
scorching  winds  peculiar  to  the  region,  so  destructive  to 
crops,  and  which  frequently  blow  constantly  for  weeks  at 
a  time. 

"On  the  evening  of  the  19th  of  October  the  relatively 
gentle  southwest  wind  turned  into  a  furious  gale,  and 
when  night  came  on  we  could  see  far  off  in  the  darkness 
a  reflection  on  the  clouds;  the  first  premonition  of  the 
awful  fate  to  which  the  country  was  doomed.  At  the 
incipiency  of  the  affair  but  little  attention  was  given  to 
it,  excepting  to  admire  the  beauty  and  grandeur  of  the 
scene,  as,  like  the  '  pillar  of  fire '  that  Moses  and  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  followed  of  old,  the  treacherous  flames  shot 
upward  to  the  zenith  from  the  far-distant  southwestern 
horizon. 

"  The  next  morning  the  sun  rose  upon  a  landscape  en- 
veloped in  smoke,  and  all  that  day  the  air  was  so  dense 
that  to  breathe  it  was  almost  stifling.  When  the  dark- 
ness, or  rather  the  time  for  darkness,  to  make  its  appear- 
ance arrived,  the  change  from  daylight  to  night  was  awful 


NIGHT  AND  DAY  ALMOST  REVERSED 


105 


to  contemplate.  During  the  day,  what  should  have  been 
hours  of  sunlight  were  thick,  smoky,  and  a  diffused  gloom 
like  that  of  a  heavy  fog  spread  over  the  landscape ;  while 
the  legitimate  night  was  as  lurid  as  the  Inferno  so  graph- 
ically described  by  the  immortal  Dante.  The  whole  heav- 
ens, from  the  remotest  east  to  the  farthest  west,  appeared 
to  be  melting  under  a  glow  that  was  as  red  as  incandescent 
hydrogen,  and  the  light  so  intense  you  could  see  to  pick 
up  a  pin  anywhere  on  the  broad  prairie.  Many  of  the 
superstitious  really  wondered  whether  the  '  last  day '  had 
not  really  come. 

"  Sleep  that  night  was  an  entire  stranger  to  all  in  the 
settlement,  excepting  the  little  ones ;  and  how  long  it 
seemed !  When  the  sun  rose  on  the  morning  of  the  21st, 
the  atmosphere  was  so  saturated  with  the  dense  smoke 
that  it  appeared  as  if  the  order  of  nature  had  been  re- 
versed,—  day  turned  into  night,  and  vice  versa;  a  mighty 
pall  spread  over  the  earth.  Occasionally,  when  there 
came  a  rift  in  the  black  smoke-clouds,  the  sun  appeared 
like  a  molten  ball,  intensely  red,  and  swiftly  scudding 
along  the  heavens, — this  apparent  motion  being  only  an 
optical  illusion,  of  course,  caused  by  the  swift  passage  of 
smoke-clouds  as  the  wind  hurled  them  along  in  its  fury. 

"  The  condition  of  affairs  was  now  serious,  for  the  sheet 
of  flame  was  rapidly  closing  in  toward  the  settlement. 
The  few  settlers  in  our  portion  of  the  region  in  the  path- 
way of  the  fire  demon,  turned  out  and  began  to  break 
furrows  around  their  homes,  rude  stables,  haystacks,  corn- 
cribs  and  other  property,  comprising  their  all,  in  order  to 
save  them  if  possible.  During  the  long  weary  hours  that 
the  frightened  people  had  helplessly  watched  the  coming 
of  the  fiery  storm,  the  wind  had  not  abated  one  jot;  if 
anything,  rather  increased  in  its  fury.  No  one  had  dared 
to  put  out  a  'back-fire,'  for  fear  of  destroying  his  neigh- 
bors' property  that  lay  in  the  fire's  pathway.  Not  a  liv- 
ing thing  could  have  withstood  the  full  force  of  the 
withering  blast.    Cattle  and  horses  were  hastily  driven 


106 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


into  their  stables  and  sheds,  while  people  were  obliged  to 
keep  indoors,  down  cellars,  or  in  some  sheltered  place 
where  the  scorching  wind  could  not  reach  them.  The 
very  air  was  filled  with  ashes,  much  of  them  impalpable, 
getting  into  the  throat  and  lungs.  Another  feature  was, 
great  pieces  of  inflammable  debris  of  4  buffalo-chips '  were 
blown  from  the  sheet  of  flame  ( far  away  as  yet )  by  the 
force  of  the  terrible  wind.  It  was  now  impossible  to 
breathe  with  comfort,  unless  in  some  closed  room,  where 
the  ashes  had  been  filtered  from  the  air  as  they  entered 
the  place. 

"  The  women  and  children  were  pale  and  haggard  from 
excitement  and  fear,  the  men  exhausted  and  discouraged ; 
yet  everyone  fixed  his  eyes  on  the  awful  spectacle  of  the 
rapidly  approaching  flames,  as  if  it  were  a  siren  that  had 
charmed  him. 

"  By  noon,  the  roar  of  the  fire  as  it  swept  along  could 
be  heard  above  the  roaring  of  the  wind,  adding  new  horror 
to  that  already  paralyzing  the  silent  lookers-on.  This 
appalling  feature  of  the  terrible  scene  sounded  like  dis- 
tant thunder,  or  like  the  dashing  of  breakers  on  a  ledge 
of  rocks  during  a  fearful  storm.  On  every  side,  all  over 
the  prairie,  could  be  seen  nearly  every  variety  of  animal 
known  to  the  region,  fleeing  for  their  lives  before  the 
coming  waves  of  fire.  Antelope  appeared  in  large  num- 
bers ;  wolves  skulked  along,  their  tails  tucked  under  their 
bodies, —  now  stopping  for  a  moment,  looking  backward, 
then  ahead  in  their  bewilderment,  not  knowing  where 
to  turn  next.  A  few  buffaloes  drifted  by  with  the  other 
beasts,  nearly  exhausted  with  their  long  race,  their  tongues 
hanging  far  out  of  their  mouths.  The  jack-rabbit  and  the 
cottontail  could  be  seen  mingled  with  the  rest  of  the  un- 
fortunate brutes,  seeking  some  place  where  they  might 
hide  from  the  impending  danger.  How  I  longed  for  a 
Noah's  ark  or  a  place  of  refuge  for  them !  But  not  a  bird 
was  to  be  seen  in  all  the  vast  expanse  of  the  country. 
They  had  long  since,  from  the  first  intimation  of  the 


EVERYONE  TO  THE  RESCUE 


107 


fire,  forsaken  the  region,  being  fortunately  supplied  with 
means  of  locomotion  that  would  swiftly  carry  them  out 
of  the  path  of  the  flames. 

4  ■  Nearer  and  louder  the  horrid  blasting  storm  ap- 
proached; the  ashes  now  sifted  through  the  crevices  of 
the  buildings,  and  then  the  people  were  compelled  to 
hide  their  heads  under  towels,  handkerchiefs,  or  some- 
thing of  that  character,  to  prevent  being  smothered  by  the 
dense  smoke  and  ashes  permeating  every  place. 

"  Early  in  the  afternoon,  by  two  o'clock,  with  a  mighty 
roar  the  flames  reached  the  crest  of  the  divide  only  half  a 
mile  distant,  and  we  then  knew  that  in  a  few  moments 
the  terrible  storm  of  fire  would  be  upon  us.  Would  it  de- 
stroy all  ?  In  another  minute  everything  suddenly  ap- 
peared to  have  turned  to  flames,  but  no  one  dared  to 
uncover  to  see.  Another  moment  and  all  was  wrapped 
in  intense  darkness ;  relief  soon  came ;  the  horrid  ordeal 
had  ended,  and  then,  1  To  the  rescue! '  was  the  cry.  Now 
to  save  our  homes  and  property,  which  had  been  in  a 
measure  protected  by  the  broad  furrows  of  earth  that  had 
been  plowed  around  them.  The  air  was  so  hot,  however, 
it  drove  the  men  back  instantly  into  the  houses.  Besides, 
the  ashes  were  still  being  hurled  thickly  in  the  atmos- 
phere by  the  awful  hurricane  which  the  radiation  had 
caused,  and  it  was  impossible  to  live  in  it  without  shelter. 
This  condition,  after  the  fire  had  passed,  fortunately  did 
not  last  long,  as  the  wind  soon  swept  everything  clean, 
and  hurled  it  far  beyond.  Then  the  men  were  soon  able 
to  get  out  and  fight  the  sparks  and  brands  which  had 
lodged  in  the  barnyards  and  other  exposed  places,  making 
another  conflagration  imminent.  Many  stables  and  open 
houses  were  by  this  means  destroyed  on  that  eventful  day. 

"When  quiet  had  been  restored  and  the  air  attained 
its  normal  coolness,  what  a  desolate  picture  the  landscape 
presented  1  The  whole  earth  looked  as  if  the  angel  of  de- 
struction had  visited  the  region,  leaving  nothing  but 
wreck  and  despair  in  its  pathway. 


108 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


UA  few  days  after  this  visitation,  I  went  out  on  a  hunt- 
ing expedition,  more  for  the  purpose,  however,  of  sur- 
veying the  area  burned  over,  than  in  the  expectancy  of 
securing  any  game.  I  found  everywhere  ghastly  monu- 
ments of  the  fire's  dreadful  work;  antelopes  which  had 
been  caught  in  the  cruel  flames  —  some  dead,  burned  to  a 
crisp,  others  so  badly  injured  they  could  not  even  crawl 
out  of  my  way.  One,  especially  large,  had  evidently  been 
caught  in  the  midst  of  the  flames ;  his  hair  was  com- 
pletely burned  off,  his  feet  so  perfectly  roasted  that  the 
hoofs  had  fallen  off,  and  when  I  came  up  to  him  he  at- 
tempted to  run  away  on  his  raw  and  bleeding  stumps.  I 
put  an  end  to  his  suffering  at  once,  rather  than  leave  him 
in  that  helpless  condition  for  the  wolves  to  torture,  which 
they  would  surely  have  done. 

"  This  awful  fire  was  in  all  probability  set  out  by  a 
band  of  Kiowa  Indians  who  had  been  hunting  in  that 
vicinity,  and  was  no  doubt  enjoyed  by  them  as  much  as 
dreaded  by  the  citizens. 

"  I  have  seen  a  great  many  such  fires  on  the  frontier, 
and  have  always  been  very  lucky  in  not  being  caught  with- 
out plenty  of  matches  and  something  to  light  them  under. 
The  first  thing  that  I  would  pack  in  a  box  when  going  out 
on  a  hunt  would  be  matches,  for  without  them  a  man's 
life  was  in  as  much  danger  as  from  the  Indians,  in  those 
troublous  times  on  the  frontier. 

"Many  years  afterward,  near  Garden  City,  Kansas,  a 
friend  and  neighbor  of  mine,  Clinton  Gore,  who  was  driv- 
ing across  a  prairie  in  a  light  spring  wagon,  was  suddenly 
surprised  to  see  the  flames  in  close  proximity  to  him. 
Realizing  his  danger,  as  the  wall  of  fire  rolled  toward 
him,  he  applied  the  lash  mercilessly  to  his  really  very 
fast  team,  and  endeavored  to  escape  before  the  flames 
could  reach  him,  which  were  gaining  rapidly;  but  saw  he 
was  too  late.  He  then  stopped,  attempted  to  set  out  a 
fire,  but  his  matches  failed,  the  wind  being  too  strong, 
extinguishing  them  as  fast  as  he  lighted  one,  until  his 


MR.  GORE'S  NARROW  ESCAPE  FROM  THE  FLAMES  109 

entire  stock  was  nearly  exhausted.  The  flames  were  now 
almost  upon  him,  and  he  was  in  a  dilemma  which  can  only 
be  imagined  by  those  who  are  familiar  with  the  dangers 
of  the  Great  Plains.  In  despair,  he  snatched  a  buffalo- 
robe  from  the  wagon,  and,  sheltering  himself  under  it,  at- 
tempted again  to  light  a  fire.  This  time  he  succeeded; 
(and  this  means,  i.  e.,  by  a  cover  to  break  the  wind, 
is  the  only  way  a  fire  can  be  started  when  the  wind  is 
very  high  on  the  Plains.)  He  paused  but  a  minute,  then 
guided  his  team  in  the  rear  of  the  blaze,  and  followed  the 
fire  he  had  started  as  fast  as  he  could  go,  but  the  wind 
was  so  terrific  that  it  prevented  the  flames  from  spread- 
ing sideways  very  fast.  The  main  fire  had  nearly  reached 
his  rear,  and  threatened  to  consume  both  him  and  his 
team;  so,  as  he  could  no  longer  keep  ahead  of  the  flames, 
he  dismounted,  laid  himself  flat  on  the  ground,  pulled 
the  robe  over  him,  and  held  on  to  the  reins  until  the  fire 
had  passed.  The  horses,  although  on  the  burnt  ground 
that  his  fire  had  cleared,  fully  four  rods  wide,  were  so 
badly  burned  that  within  three  days  the  flesh  fell  from 
the  side  next  to  the  flames,  and  Mr.  Gore  was  compelled 
to  kill  them.  His  face  and  hands  were  very  badly  burned 
in  his  attempt  to  hang  on  to  the  team.  By  holding  to 
the  reins  his  hands  were  jerked  from  under  the  robe,  and 
for  fear  the  wagon  or  horses  would  run  over  him  he 
threw  the  robe  back  from  his  face  so  that  he  could  see, 
which  was  a  mistake.  He  drove  sixteen  miles  to  the 
town,  where  he  put  up  at  the  hotel  and  sent  for  a  doctor; 
he  was  compelled  to  keep  his  bed  for  six  weeks,  and  came 
very  near  losing  his  life.  It  is  hardly  credible  that  ani- 
mals could  endure  so  much  after  being  so  badly  burned, 
but  they  crippled  along  in  some  way,  and  finally  reached 
the  village,  more  dead  than  alive. 

1 '  No  doubt  many  of  my  readers  have  seen  prairie-fires 
in  the  middle  Western  States ;  but  the  vegetation  there  is 
very  different  from  the  buffalo-grass  of  western  Kansas, 
which  is  so  full  of  combustible  matter  and  so  short,  that 

\ 


110 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


the  wind  sweeps  right  over  it,  causing  the  flames  to  be 
wafted  much  more  rapidly  than  in  those  places,  and  to 
reach  far  out  in  advance.  The  rapidity  with  which  it 
travels,  and  the  heat  that  it  produces,  seem  almost  in- 
credible to  people  who  are  unaccustomed  to  prairie-fires. 
Those  who  have  seen  such  fires  during  a  hurricane,  as 
above  described,  will  bear  witness  to  the  terror  it  in- 
spires." 


CHAPTER  VIII 


SECOND  HUNT  FOR  CALVES 

EVERYBODY    WANTED    TO    JOIN    COL.  JONES'S  EXPEDITION  

TWO  STRANGERS  THRUST  THEMSELVES  UPON  HIM  PROVED 

TO  BE  "  ANGELS  UNAWARES  "  LANDED  IN  AN  IRRIGA- 
TION DITCH   ALL    THE   SAME  HORSE    BALKED  WANTED 

JONES    TO    KILL    HIM  "  NO  !   HE    IS    THE  BEST  HORSE  IN 

THE   EXPEDITION"  WILD-HORSE    HUNTER    LOST  WOULD 

NOT  BELIEVE  RIGHT  DIRECTION  WHEN  TOLD  LOST  CON- 
FIDENCE   BECAUSE    GIVEN    WATER    INSTEAD  OF   WHAT  HE 

WANTED         "  BUFFALO,     BY    JUPITER  1  "  —  "  EVERYTHING 

DONE  IN  A  MINUTE"  HORSEMEN    DASH    AFTER    HERD  — 

"TENDERFEET"  FOLLOW,  STANDING  IN  WAGON,  OVER  HIL- 
LOCKS   AND    DOG-HOUSES  MOST    GRAPHIC     ACCOUNT  OF 

THE  CHASE  SECURED    THREE    CALVES  COW  FIGHTS  TO 

THE  DEATH — SEARCHING  FOR  WATER  IN  THE  DARKNESS. 

("A  Buffalo  Hunt  Indeed."  Written  by  E.  Hough,  sketched  by 
J.  A.  Eicker,  eye-witnesses.) 

IT  was  in  the  month  of  May,  1887,  that  the  artist,  J.  A. 
Ricker,  and  myself  found  ourselves  in  southwestern 
Kansas.  While  tarrying  at  Garden  City  we  learned, 
through  strictly  private  sources,  that  a  herd  of  buf- 
falo was  within  two  hundred  miles  of  us  at  the  south,  and 
that  within  two  weeks  an  efficient  effort  would  be  made  to 
find  them  by  an  old  and  successful  buffalo-hunter.  We 
had  supposed  that  the  last  buffalo  had  been  killed  during 
the  past  season.  If  there  were  indeed  any  left,  even  the 
very  fewest,  it  would  be  news  to  learn  of  them,  and  the 
event  of  a  lifetime  to  see  them :  it  was  the  last  chance. 
Added  to  this  interest,  which  naturally  attached  to  the 

(in) 


112 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


hunt  proposed,  was  the  further  peculiar  purpose  of  the 
hunt;  which  was,  not  to  destroy  as  many  as  possible  of 
the  little  remaining  band,  but  to  make  a  systematic  and 
energetic  attempt  to  preserve  the  species  from  final  ex- 
tinction. In  short,  the  hunt  was  to  be  a  buffalo-calf 
hunt,  and  they  were  to  be  preserved  for  domestication. 

When  we  learned  of  this  hunt,  learned  its  projector, 
and  became  satisfied  of  its  success, —  if  success  was  a  pos- 
sible thing, —  my  friend  and  I  were  filled  with  a  great  con- 
viction that  it  was  an  affair  in  which  all  sportsmen,  as 
well  as  all  who  possess  humane  proclivities,  in  this  great 
country,  were  interested.  We  were  satisfied  that  we  could 
learn  something  definite  about  these  representatives  of  a 
grand  and  passing  race,  and  confident  that  we  would  find 
in  the  hunt  something  new,  as  well  as  something  impossible 
to  duplicate.  This  at  least  was  our  conviction.  With  a  de- 
termination to  go,  we  set  out  to  get  an  invitation  to  join 
the  hunt, —  which  we  h'ad  not  yet  received.  We  looked  up 
Mr.  C.  J.  Jones,  the  projector  of  the  enterprise,  a  gentle- 
man with  whom  our  personal  acquaintance  was  yet  only 
slight.  We  told  him  who  we  were,  and  what  we  wanted ; 
assured  him  that  we  were  "tenderfeet"  only  in  appear- 
ance ( though  neither  of  us  had  ever  seen  a  buffalo)  ;  and 
concluded  by  telling  him  that  we  felt  obliged  to  join  that 
particular  hunt, — peaceably  if  possible,  by  force  if  we  must. 
He  had  refused  fifty  less  determined  beggars,  and  refused 
us  also.  We  begged,  and  threatened  to  go  on  our  own  hook, 
which  he  knew  would  frighten  all  the  buffalo  off  the  range  ; 
so  he  could  not  resist  our  stern  purpose.  He  smiled  amus- 
edly, looked  us  over,  made  us  promise  not  to  grumble  if 
the  bread  was  burned,  and  finally  said,  "  Gentlemen,  if 
you  will  obey  orders  and  not  shoot  or  scare  the  buffalo  in 
any  manner  without  permission  from  me,  I  will  take  you 
in."  All  of  which  we  swore  would  be  carried  out  faith- 
fully. 

And  now,  as  delicately  as  we  may,  and  whether  he  likes 
it  or  not,  we  must  tell  about  Mr.  Jones ;  for  without  him 


I 

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A  BRIEF  BIOGRAPHY  OF  "  BUFFALO  JONES  "  118 

such  a  hunt,  or  the  pleasure  of  it,  or  the  story  of  it,  could 
not  have  been  at  all. 

The  Hon.  C.  J.  Jones  is  "  The  gentleman  from  Finney," 
when  he  is  in  the  legislative  halls  at  the  capital  of  Kan- 
sas; but  when  out  of  his  legislator's  desk  he  is  just 
"  Buffalo  Jones,"  all  over  Kansas  and  the  West.  There 
is  no  man  in  Kansas  so  well  known,  perhaps  no  private 
citizen  better,  in  the  entire  United  States.  He  has  built 
a  city,  made  a  fortune,  and  has  gone  to  the  Legislature; 
but  still  his  old  name  sticks  to  him,  and  will  stick  so 
long  as  time  shall  last.  There  is  no  use  of  his  trying  to 
escape  it :  he  is  and  will  always  be  "  Buffalo  Jones." 

Time  was  when  Mr.  Jones  was  not  so  rich.  In  the 
tk70s"  he  was  out  west  in  Kansas,  away  ahead  of  the 
"rain-belt,"  with  little  to  support  him  but  his  belief  in 
the  future  of  the  country,  his  ability  to  "  rustle,"  and  no 
doubt  the  hope  of  a  blessed  immortality  if  he  starved  to 
death.  He  was  mail-carrier,  station-agent, —  anything  he 
could  be.  He  located  the  town-site  of  Garden  City,  and 
by  his  own  ability  and  energy  started  the  town  going  lit- 
tle by  little,  until,  snowball  fashion,  it  grew  bigger  and 
bigger,  and  finally  one  morning  took  a  screaming  boom, 
and  made  him  rich.  He  built  the  marble  blocks  which 
delighted  visitors  to  one  of  the  livest  and  loveliest  towns 
in  western  Kansas,  and  pushed  the  town  yet  farther  on. 
It  is  no  wonder  the  people  made  him  mayor,  and  con- 
ferred further  honors  on  him.  But  all  this  time  he  was 
only  "Buffalo  Jones."  The  big  marble  hotel  which  he 
built  had  some  ceremonies  over  its  corner-stone.  It  was 
not  known  what  to  name  the  hotel.  "In  honor  of  Mr. 
Jones,"  cried  one  happy  speaker,  "call  it  the  'Buffalo 
Hotel.'  "  And  Buffalo  Hotel  it  was,  and  has  been  ever 
since;  and  a  very  good  one,  too. 

In  those  early  days — for  ten  years  ago  was  early  in  the 
history  of  western  Kansas  —  the  buffaloes  were  as  the 
sands  of  the  sea  ;  and  as 

"The  blue  wave  rolls  nightly  on  deep  Galilee," 

-8 


114 


FORTY  YEARS    OF  ADVENTURES 


so  daily  rolled  their  countless  bands  upon  the  shallow 
Arkansas.  Then,  there  was  hardly  a  man  in  Kansas  who 
had  not  killed  his  buffalo.  Now,  there  are  thousands 
who  will  never  see  one.  Where  Garden  City  is,  the  rail- 
way train  has  many  a  time  been  stopped  for  hours  at  a 
stretch  by  the  passing  herds ;  and  old  trainmen  and 
frontiersmen  tell,  of  these  episodes,  that  there  sometimes 
seemed  to  be  millions  of  these  animals  in  sight;  and  far 
as  the  eye  could  reach,  from  the  swarming  sandhills  on 
the  south  to  the  edge  of  the  northern  horizon,  the  whole 
landscape  was  covered  with  a  black  sea  of  surging  bodies, 
and  the  air  was  filled  with  the  rumbling  bellows  of  the 
innumerable  hosts.  There  are  few  of  us  now  who  can 
actually  realize  such  a  scene.  There  were  few  then  who 
reflected  that  the  scene  could  ever  be  different.  It  seemed 
impossible  even  to  think  that  all  those  countless  herds 
could  ever  be  destroyed.    To-day,  where  are  they  ? 

In  those  days  Mr.  Jones  lived  in  the  heart  of  the  buf- 
falo country,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  buffaloes.  He  lived 
in  a  town  which  even  now  has  "buffalo-wallows"  within 
its  city  limits,  and  within  a  gunshot  of  its  marble  build- 
ings. He  grew  fundamentally  acquainted  with  the  ani- 
mals, and  learned  their  every  habit,  so  that  gradually  he 
came  to  be  known  as  the  most  successful  buffalo-hunter 
on  the  range.  Let  it  not  be  misunderstood :  he  did  his 
full  share  toward  exterminating  the  buffalo,  partly  be- 
cause his  necessity  was  greater  than  theirs ;  but  even  as 
he  destroyed  them,  he  grew  to  know  and  regret  their  fate ; 
and  as  they  faded  away  from  the  range,  and  it  became 
certain  that  soon  they  would  be  gone  forever,  no  heart 
was  fuller  of  regret  than  his,  and  no  mind  so  full  of  expe- 
dients to  rescue  them.  He  saw  that  no  game  law  could 
preserve  the  wild  buffalo.  Congress  had  slept  on  its 
golden  opportunities. 

So  we  were  to  be  in  at  the  last  "  round-up."  To  see  a 
buffalo  had  been  our  highest  wish.  Here  we  were  on  the 
last  verge  of  all  opportunity.    Our  hearts  ran  riot  at  the 


GETTING  READY  TO  START 


115 


thought,  and  the  question  almost  tormented  us  into  hys- 
terics.   Would  we  indeed  find  the  herd? 

Slowly,  the  day  of  our  departure  came  near.  We  were 
like  children  making  their  first  visit :  we  could  not  eat,  we 
could  not  sleep.  We  would  call  around  at  Jones's  office 
every  few  hours,  and  were  actually  indignant  because  he 
did  not  worry  too.  He  appeared  to  regret  the  coming 
day  of  our  departure,  and  we  shuddered  for  fear  he  would 
back  down  after  all. 

In  the  meantime,  at  leisure  moments,  wre  got  together 
such  articles  as  needed.  As  we  were  forced  to  travel  light, 
we  confined  ourselves  to  actual  necessities.  All  our  per- 
sonal baggage,  excepting  guns  and  blankets,  were  packed 
in  a  little  box,  fourteen  by  eighteen  inches  in  size, —  whose 
principal  contents,  aside  from  soap,  towels,  a  spool  of 
thread,  and  a  whetstone  or  two,  were  some  six  or  seven 
hundred  rifle  cartridges. 

We  had  several  canteens,  which  we  knew  would  be  nec- 
essary. Three  pairs  of  heavy  blankets  constituted  our 
bedding.  My  friend  and  I  each  had  a  rifle,  revolver,  and 
knife;  and  in  addition,  he  took  his  little  pet  three-barrel 
gun,  for  small  game,  while  I  packed  up  my  fishing-rod, 
which  always  stands  at  the  head  of  my  bed  of  nights. 
Mr.  Jones's  baggage  was  intended  to  be  as  simple  as  our 
own,  but  on  the  first  night  out  it  was  discovered  that  his 
wife  had  secreted  in  his  roll  of  bedding  a  thin  mattress, 
and  also  a  pillow.  We  adjudged  such  luxuries  sybaritic, 
and  gave  him  no  peace  of  them.  He  also  thrust  under 
the  buggy-seat,  when  wre  started,  a  dilapidated-looking 
valise.  It  contained  quinine  and  a  quart  of  whisky  for 
snakebite,  besides  various  other  articles  often  needed  on 
such  expeditions. 

It  should  be  premised  that  our  expedition  was  divided 
into  two  forces.  The  heavy  outfit,  containing  the  camp 
supplies,  tents,  etc.,  and  accompanied  by  three  men  who 
attended  to  the  camp,  left  the  railroad  for  the  south  nearly 
a  week  before  we  started.    There  were  with  this  wagon  a 


116 


FORTY  YEARS  OF  ADVENTURES 


fine  mule  team,  an  extra  team,  and  three  of  the  running- 
horses —  "Jennie,"  Mr.  Jones's  favorite  Kentucky  horse, 
4 'Ken tuck,"  and  a  likely-looking  black  horse,  which,  be- 
ing of  Western  birth,  and  therefore  nameless,  we  tempo- 
rarily christened  "Blackie."  Aside  from  camp  supplies 
for  a  month,  the  wagon  contained  over  two  thousand 
pounds  of  grain.  The  stock  was  to  be  kept  in  as  fine  con- 
dition as  possible,  for  it  would  be  called  upon  to  perform 
the  hardest  of  work;  grass  feed  would  not  do  at  all. 
With  the  main  wagon  went  also  twelve  milch  cows.  These 
cows  were  to  be  foster-mothers  of  the  young  buffalo  calves 
which  we  were  to  catch,  and  were  to  take  the  place  of  the 
condensed  milk  which  had  resulted  so  disastrously  the 
preceding  year.  This  portion  of  the  cavalcade  started 
thus  early  because,  owing  to  the  cows,  it  could  not  be  ex- 
pected to  travel  more  than  twenty  miles  a  day,  while  the 
lighter  outfit  was  to  cover  three  times  that  distance.  The 
first  team  was  in  charge  of  Charlie  Rude  —  the  man  Mr. 
Jones  always  "banked"  on.  He  had  been  on  the  calf- 
hunt  the  year  before,  and  therefore  knew  the  trail,  and 
the  points  to  make  for. 

On  Tuesday  night,  May  10,  Mr.  Jones  left  Garden  City 
by  rail  for  Hartland,  which  was  the  point  where  we  were 
to  leave  the  railroad.  My  friend  and  myself  started  early 
that  day  to  drive  the  light  rig  across,  the  distance  being 
only  about  thirty  miles.  Our  vehicle,  which  was  to  be 
the  scout  wagon  of  the  expedition,  was  an  uncovered  two- 
seated  buggy,  or  light  "platform  wagon,"  and  our  team 
consisted  of  a  big  black  horse  and  a  little  gray.  The 
former  was  a  large  "States"  horse,  and  was  purchased 
by  Mr.  Jones  on  Tuesday  morning,  the  day  of  our  start, 
and  incontinently  hitched  up  for  the  trip,  without  further 
wo^ds;  the  latter  was  a  weary-looking  animal,  with  a 
suggestion  of  "broncho,"  a  bad  eye,  and  a  record  as  a 
runner.  We  had  no  name  for  the  new  horse;  when  we 
got  to  Hartland  we  had  unconsciously  christened  his  mate 
"Gray  Devil." 


TROUBLE  AT  THE  IRRIGATION  DITCH 


117 


It  was  ten  o'clock  Tuesday  morning  when  we  pushed 
our  last  letters  into  the  postoffice,  tossed  our  traps  into 
the  wagon,  buckled  on  our  belts,  and  pulled  out  from  the 
Buffalo  Hotel,  followed  by  the  profane  regrets  of  half  a 
hundred  men  who  wanted  to  go  on  that  particular  hunt 
and  couldn't.  We  drove  around  the  corner  of  the  hotel, 
and  there  a  transaction  was  effected  at  the  kitchen  win- 
dow, whereby  a  certain  dark-eyed  damsel  transferred  into 
our  possession  a  most  substantial-looking  lunch,  and  a 
wish  for  luck, —  in  return  for  which  we  promised  her  a 
buffalo. 

Our  road  lay  west  along  the  railroad  track,  and  across 
the  multifold  irrigating  ditches  which  environ  Garden 
City.  Our  first  ditch  bade  fair  to  stop  our  trip  at  its  be- 
ginning. The  water  was  running  along  it  nearly  bank- 
full,  and  fairly  boiling:  for  the  fall  of  the  country  makes 
even  the  Arkansas  river  run  six  miles  an  hour  at  tha.t  point. 
We  knew  the  ditch  was  shallow,  and  it  was  not  more  than 
fifteen  feet  wide ;  and  we  could  see  where  other  teams  had 
crossed  ;  therefore,  in  we  went.  The  horses  slid  down  the 
steep  bank  to  the  bottom  of  the  ditch,  plunged  through 
it,  and  struck  the  other  bank  with  their  fore  feet  just  as 
the  weight  of  the  wagon  came  sliding  down  upon  them 
from  behind.  The  black  pulled  true  and  honest,  but  the 
gray  "went  to  pieces,"  and  fell  to  rearing,  pitching, 
plunging,  backing,  and  lying  down  in  the  harness;  in 
short,  going  through  a  whole  circus-bill  of  equine  per- 
formances which  we  were  willing  to  call  "  absolutely  with- 
out parallel."  We  whipped  him  vigorously,  tried  moral 
suasion,  and  even,  in  respect  of  his  ancestry,  swore  at  him 
in  Spanish ;  but  everything  was  worse  than  the  thing  be- 
fore it,  until  at  last,  with  a  vicious  shake  of  his  head,  the 
brute  began  to  throw  himself  back  in  the  harness,  and  in 
a  way  we  never  quite  understood,  pushed  us  out  —  on  the 
wrong  side  of  the  ditch. 

There  was  a  farmer  plowing  in  the  field  near  by.  We 
gave  him  half  a  dollar,  and  he  unhitched  his  team  and 


118 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


came  to  our  help.  We  meekly  took  out  our  own  team, 
and  rode  them  across  the  ditch.  The  farmer  pulled  our 
wagon  across;  and  we  went  on  our  way  sorrowful,  won- 
dering if  there  would  be  plenty  of  ditches  —  and  plenty  of 
farmers  —  all  the  way  down  to  the  Panhandle. 

There  were  plenty  of  ditches  that  day.  At  the  next  one 
our  horse  behaved  admirably,  and  pulled  straight  across 
without  a  murmur.  At  the  one  following  he  balked  un- 
mistakably, but  finally  got  tired  and  went  on.  But  about 
three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  we  found  ourselves  stuck 
fast  in  the  biggest  ditch  yet,  the  gray  refusing  to  move 
under  any  consideration.  We  took  out  the  team,  and  tried 
to  move  the  wagon  ourselves,  but  our  efforts  only  sunk  it 
and  ourselves  deeper  into  the  soft,  sticky  mud.  At  last 
one  of  us  started  off  to  a  claim-shanty,  distant  over  a  mile, 
to  get  a  team,  while  the  other  remained  with  the  wagon, 
and  thought,  and  thought. 

By  the  time  the  good-natured  Dutchman — for  another 
half-dollar  —  had  agreed  to  get  his  yoke  of  oxen  (  he  had 
no  horses),  and  had  finally  rounded  them  up  from  the 
hills  where  they  were  grazing,  and  had  come  to  our  assist- 
ance, our  pride  had  made  us  desperate.  We  would  not  be 
pulled  out  of  a  ditch  by  an  ignoble  yoke  of  oxen.  So  we 
harnessed  the  black  horse  to  the  end  of  the  tongue,  and 
pulled  the  wagon  out  in  that  way.  Then  we  hitched  up, 
drove  to  the  bottom  of  the  hill,  stopped  again  for  reasons 
the  most  obvious,  and  engaged  in  another  struggle  with 
perverse  horseflesh.  We  blindfolded  the  horse,  put  dirt  in 
his  ears,  fed  him  grass,  watered  him,  swore  at  him,  spoke 
to  him  in  well-dissimulated  tones  of  honeyed  sweetness ; 
but  all  to  no  purpose.  Then  our  "  proud  hearts  broke." 
We  chartered  the  Dutchman  to  pull  us  up  the  hill  with 
his  oxen,  and  followed  behind,  an  inglorious  procession 
of  buffalo-hunters.  We  said  to  each  other,  "  Oh,  but 
won't  Jones  be  a  picturesque  idiot  if  he  tries  to  get  that 
horse  down  to  the  Panhandle  !  " 

We  managed  to  reach  the  way-station  of  Lakin  without 


THE  COLONEL  DRIVES  THE  BALKY  HORSE  119 

stopping.  Here  the  gray  horse  balked  on  the  railroad 
track,  just  as  the  passenger  train  was  coming  in,  but  for- 
tunately he  got  scared  at  the  cars  and  ran  off,  so  that  we 
were  not  left  open  to  the  charge  of  being  disguised  anarch- 
ists. As  the  team  had  such  a  good  start,  we  did  not  let 
them  stop  until  we  got  to  Hartland,  eight  miles  distant. 
Delays  are  dangerous  indeed,  with  a  balky  horse;  and,  as 
we  reasoned  very  properly,  if  we  never  allowed  him  to 
stop,  he  could  not  possibly  give  us  any  trouble  about  start- 
ing,—  which,  you  know,  is  the  chief  difficulty  with  a  horse 
of  that  kind. 

At  Hartland  we  met  Mr.  Jones.  We  took  him  aside, 
and  told  him  privately  to  execute  the  gray  beast,  or  trade 
him  off  for  a  box  of  cartridges. 

"  Pshaw!  boys,"  said  he;  "  he  is  the  best  horse  in  the 
expedition;  you  don't  know  how  to  handle  him — that's 
all.  That  horse  is  all  right.  Did  you  put  a  stay-chain 
on  the  other  horse  ?  " 

True;  we  had  forgotten  the  stay-chain.  We  told  Mr. 
Jones  we  would  have  thought  of  that,  too,  if  we  had  had 
time. 

After  some  talk  with  the  men  who  gathered  about  us, 
and  wanted  to  go  on  the  hunt  and  couldn't,  we  ate  sup- 
per, had  the  horses  shod,  and  turned  in  at  the  hotel  for  a 
good  night's  sleep ;  our  slumbers  being  broken  only  by 
the  apparition  of  a  gray  nightmare  which  balked,  and 
would  not  be  persuaded. 

The  next  morning  Mr.  Jones  mounted  the  seat  with 
lines  in  hand;  a  "stay-chain"  had  been  properly  ad- 
justed, and  all  was  then  ready  to  dash  into  the  sandhills 
south  of  the  river.  Ricker  and  I  knew  "Gray  Devil" 
would  never  pull  through  ten  feet  of  soft  sand,  and  we 
did  not  care  to  ride  on  the  seat  only  to  freeze  in  the  crisp 
northern  breeze  and  perhaps  be  invited  to  get  off  to 
lighten  the  load;  so  we  determined  to  walk. 

"Jump  on!"  shouted  Colonel  Jones.  "No,  thanks; 
we  will  walk  a  ways ;  we  can  make  ten  miles  while  you 
are  driving  one  w^ith  that  team,"  I  responded. 


I 


120  FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 

"  Very  well,"  replied  the  Colonel;  "you  can  walk  all 
the  way  if  you  so  desire ;  but  let  me  kindly  suggest  that 
I  shall  not  stop,  after  starting,  until  noon." 

I  looked  at  Ricker  and  he  at  me ;  we  both  knew  better, 
but  fearing  the  Colonel  might  order  us  to  walk  all  the 
way,  as  he  threatened,  we  climbed  up  into  the  wagon 
under  protest,  smothering  our  emotions. 

No  sooner  seated,  than  Colonel  Jones  tapped  the  black 
horse  easily  with  the  whip,  and  he  gradually  moved  off, 
pulling  the  wagon  by  the  stay-chain.  The  little  gray 
brute  turned  his  head  clear  around  to  see  what  we  in- 
tended to  do,  and  soon  learned  we  were  coming  on  just 
the  same,  whether  he  moved  or  not,  and  evidently  fearing 
he  would  be  crushed  beneath  the  wheels,  dashed  straight 
ahead,  nearly  jerking  us  off  the  seat,  and  kept  up  the 
pace  until  the  first  sand-knoll  was  reached.  He  then 
again  looked  back  inquisitively,  but  a  gentle  touch  to  the 
black  sent  him  traveling  through,  and  the  gray  had  to 
trot  right  along. 

Ricker  and  I  felt  terribly  disappointed  because  "Gray 
Devil"  didn't  do  as  we  told  Colonel  Jones  he  would.  I 
leaned  over  to  Ricker  and  softly  whispered,  "I  wish  to 
the  Lord  he 'd  balk !  "  Ricker  responded,  "Just  wait  un- 
til the  next  sand-knoll  is  reached,  and  he  will  satisfy  our 
longing."  But  the  team  kept  right  along,  and  such  a 
span  of  roadsters  we  never  sat  behind  in  all  our  lives. 
We  made  eighty  miles  that  day,  a  large  portion  of  the 
distance  through  sand  a  foot  deep.  We  passed  Richfield 
and  another  village,  three  miles  south, —  Frisco,  emulous 
also  for  the  county  seat  of  Morton  county.  Thence  we 
pulled  up  along  the  breaks  of  the  Cimarron,  heading  for 
a  certain  bold  promontory  known  as  the  Point  of  Rocks, 
near  which  the  advance  team  was  to  have  crossed.  We 
now  left  all  houses  and  signs  of  settlement,  and  made 
down  into  the  valley  of  the  Cimarron  and  camped  for  the 
night.  This  valley,  as  far  as  we  could  see,  was  lined  with 
the  half-wild  range  cattle.    We  felt  as  if  we  had  indeed 


ARRIVAL  AT  THE  u  POINT  OF  ROCKS  " 


121 


left  civilization.  The  scenery  was  rough  and  broken, 
quite  a  deviation  from  the  monotony  of  the  Plains.  Next 
morning  we  ran  up  between  the  rocky  bluffs  on  one  side 
and  the  gray  sandhills  on  the  other.  Presently  we  struck 
a  wagon-trail,  and  after  a  time  found  a  rope  which  had 
been  dropped.  We  thought  our  team  could  not  be  far 
ahead. 

On  going  up  to  the  Point  of  Rocks,1  we  learned  that  our 
party  had  crossed  the  stream  some  distance  below.  Our 
informants  were  some  cowboys  whom  we  met.  They 
were  out  with  a  wagon  from  Beattie's  ranch,  picking  up 
"  chips  "  for  fuel.  Among  the  men  was  Mr.  Beattie  him- 
self—  a  bronzed  young  fellow,  dressed  in  conventional 
cattleman's  garb,  and  therefore  looking  exactly  like  a 
cowboy.  It  was  rather  a  surprise  to  learn  that  this  ordi- 
nary-looking young  man,  engaged  in  this  very  ordinary 

l  "Point  of  Rocks"  has  a  historical  record  of  much  interest.  "Robbers'  Roost,"  a 
famous  resort  for  outlaws  in  early  days,  was  located  not  many  miles  to  the  south- 
west, and  being  the  nearest  ranch,  the  desperadoes  that  infested  the  wilds  of  No  Man's 
Land  could  often  be  found  lounging  in  the  vicinity  of  Point  of  Rocks.  In  April,  1882, 
John  H.  Carter  (father  of  "Ez.,"  alluded  to  hereafter),  a  ranchman  near  Lakin,  Kansas, 
stepped  into  a  little  shanty  at  that  place,  where  the  telegraph  operator  was  sheltered 
from  the  blizzards  of  winter  and  the  scorching  suns  of  summer,  and  on  the  walls  was 
tacked,  "Notice  !  $1,000  Reward  !  "  It  was  a  reward  for  the  capture  and  conviction  of 
Thomas  Whooton  and  James  McCullom,  two  men  who  had  murdered  a  section-boss, 
near  Fort  Wallace,  Kansas,  for  his  money.  It  was  offered  by  the  Governor  of  Kansas, 
John  P.  St.  John.  Mr.  Carter  was  deputy  sheriff  of  Ford  county,  and  needed  a  thou- 
sand dollars  just  as  badly  as  the  Governor  needed  the  desperadoes,  and  on  inquiry 
among  immigrants  going  to  Colorado  he  learned  that  two  men  had  crossed  the  railroad 
about  twenty  miles  to  the  east  the  day  previous.  Mr.  Carter  immediately  started  for 
the  Point  of  Rocks  to  intercept  them,  as  he  knew  they  were  making  for  that  haven  of 
safety  for  criminals.  When  he  arrived,  he  found  no  one  had  been  there  recently.  He 
made  his  errand  known  to  the  proprietor,  Mr.  Beattie,  and  the  cowboys,  and  cautioned 
them  under  penalty  not  to  manifest  any  suspicion  if  the  men  came  that  way. 

After  all  had  rolled  up  in  their  blankets  for  the  night,  two  men  on  jaded  horses  rode 
up  and  asked  to  stay  all  night,  which  request  was  of  course  granted.  Mr.  Carter  was 
in  a  room  just  next  to  where  they  had  a  lunch,  and  after  a  cup  of  coffee  they  lay  down 
on  the  floor,  and  no  doubt  consoled  themselves  that  they  were  safe  beyond  the  strong 
arm  of  the  law.  Little  indeed  did  Mr.  Carter  sleep  that  night.  He  was  planning  how 
to  make  sure  of  the  murderers.  As  soon  as  the  gray  dawn  betokened  the  coming  day, 
he  slipped  his  Sharps'  rifle  through  a  window,  and  walked  through  the  room  where  the 
two  men  and  cowboys  lay.  As  soon  as  possible  he  was  making  his  way  in  the  direction 
of  the  jaded  horses.  When  about  half-way  to  them,  he  found  a  deep  buffalo-wallow,  in 
which  he  secreted  himself.  He  only  had  a  few  minutes  to  wait,  however,  when  Whooton 
came  out  of  the  house  and  made  straight  for  the  horses.  When  within  about  fifty  feet, 
Carter  rose  and  shouted,  "Hands  up!"  The  surprised  desperado  uttered  a  ter- 
rible oath,  pulled  out  two  large  revolvers,  and  immediately  sent  bullets  flying  all 


122 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


process  of  fuel-gathering,  was  worth  some  two  hundred 
thousand  dollars. 

By  diligent  inquiry  we  learned  that  our  men  had 
camped  six  miles  below  on  the  preceding  night,  and  had 
spent  a  part  of  the  day  before  in  resting  up  the  stock. 
They  were  therefore  not  quite  half  a  day  ahead  of  us. 
We  crossed  the  stream  on  their  trail,  and  followed  so  hard 
through  the  sandhills  that  at  about  two  o'clock  we  sighted 
them  through  one  of  the  field-glasses.  We  pushed  on  rap- 
idly, and  overtook  them  just  as  they  had  pulled  out  of  the 
trail  to  rest  their  animals  and  take  a  late  dinner.  Mutual 
greetings  and  recountals  followed.  Then  we  "hobbled 
out"  the  horses,  and  threw  ourselves  down  in  the  shade 
of  the  wagon,  where  we  ate  heartily  of  the  meal  which 
Harry  Robinson,  who  officiated  as  cook,  had  ready  for  us. 
Part  of  the  bill  of  fare  was  antelope-steak,  young  Carter 
having  killed  a  buck  the  day  before. 

Carter,  or  £<  Ez.,"  as  we  all  called  him,  was  to  be  quite 
a  figure  in  the  hunt;  and  a  word  about  him  might  be 
well.  He  is  a  son  of  the  well-known  John  Carter,  of 
Hartland :  the  man  who  captured  the  two  desperadoes 

around  Mr.  Carter,  who  was  so  enwrapped  with  dust  raised  by  the  balls  striking  near 
his  feet,  and  no  doubt  considerably  surprised  at  the  rapidity  with  which  they  were 
coming,  that  when  he  returned  Whooton's  fire  he  missed  his  mark  entirely.  By  the 
time  he  could  reach  into  his  pocket  for  another  cartridge,  the  other  desperado  was  well 
on  his  way  to  the  rescue  of  his  "pard."  Mr.  Carter  saw  he  must  act  quickly,  and 
pushed  the  charge  into  the  rifle  and  pulled  the  trigger.  Whooton  staggered,  and 
finally  fell  to  the  ground.  McCullom  had  by  this  time  arrived  where  the  man  lay 
writhing  in  pain,  and  commenced  shooting  as  rapidly  as  the  other  had  done,  and  with 
the  same  result.  Having  emptied  both  revolvers  at  Mr.  Carter,  excepting  one  load,  he 
determined  to  finish  him,  so  ran  with  all  speed  for  the  daring  intruder  ;  but  just  as  he 
was  within  ten  steps,  Carter  was  ready,  and  threw  his  gun  up  quickly,  took  the  first 
shot,  and  McCullom  dropped  dead. 

When  the  smoke  cleared  away,  Mr.  Carter  found  the  first  man  was  shot  through  the 
shoulder,  but  not  mortally  wounded.  He  had  emptied  all  the  chambers  of  his  weap- 
ons ;  so  had  the  other,  except  one.  He  found,  also,  all  the  triggers  tied  back,  so  as 
fast  as  the  hammer  was  raised  it  would  fall,  and  this  accounted  for  the  rapid  shooting. 
Mr.  Carter  turned  his  prisoner  over  to  the  sheriff  of  Ford  county,  and  he  finally  re- 
covered from  his  wounds.  A  mob  took  him  from  jail  to  enforce  lynch  law,  but,  after 
snatching  a  revolver  from  one  of  the  mob  and  wounding  several  of  his  assailants,  he 
escaped  altogether.  Mr.  Carter  not  having  succeeded  in  securing  the  conviction  of 
either  of  the  desperadoes,  the  reward  could  not  be  collected,  but  the  Legislature  made 
a  thousand  dollars  appropriation  for  him,  and  a  brave  man  was  justly  rewarded. 

The  foregoing  is  only  one  of  many  such  encounters  in  this  historic  locality.  I  am 
fortunate  in  being  able  to  give  a  good  halftone  of  the  noted  place.  C.  J.  Jones. 


A  PLAINSMAN  OF  EXPERIENCE 


123 


at  the  Point  of  Rocks.  His  life  had  been  spent  on  the 
Plains,  and  although  yet  less  than  eighteen  years  of  age, 
he  had  the  reputation  of  being  one  of  the  best  "  ropers  " 
on  the  range,  and  in  all  ways  he  was  a  plainsman  of  ex- 


JOHN    H.  CARTER 


perience.  Colonel  Jones  had  secured  his  services  for  this 
trip  in  view  of  the  quick  and  close  work  with  the  lasso 
among  the  buffaloes.  Charley  Rude  has  already  been 
mentioned  as  the  teamster.  We  found  all  the  boys  jolly, 
and  largely  enthusiastic  over  the  hunt. 

The  stock  was  all  looking  well,  as  plenty  of  water  had 


124 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


been  found  in  the  buffalo-wallows,  left  from  a  recent 
rain,  and  it  was  therefore  determined  to  push  as  far  as 
we  could  into  a  much-dreaded  portion  of  our  journey  — 
the  drive  across  the  "  Flats." 

We  were  now  outside  of  Kansas,  and  a  few  miles  across 
the  line  into  that  long  neck  of  the  Indian  Territory 
marked  on  the  maps  as  the  "  Public  Lands,"  but  known 
all  through  the  Southwest  as  "No  Man's  Land."  Our 
road  lay  along  one  of  the  biggest  cow-paths  in  the  world 
—  a  great  northern  "  through  cattle  "  trail;  the  trail  it- 
self before  us,  a  wide  ramification  of  separating  and  ap- 
proaching paths.  We  knew  that  there  would  be  water 
somewhere  along  the  trail,  but  how  far  we  did  not  know, 
and  could  learn  only  by  steady  traveling  until  found.  It 
seemed  not  improbable  that  we  would  be  forced  to  make 
a  "  dry  camp  "  that  night,  with  exception  of  what  water 
we  had  in  the  cask, —  which  would  have  been  but  a  drop 
among  so  many  horses,  even  if  we  had  not  had  a  herd  of 
cows  with  us. 

As  our  black  horse  was  beginning  to  show  signs  of  the 
extra  work  which  the  wily  gray  imposed  upon  him  by 
means  of  that  "  stay-chain,"  we  replaced  him  with  a  horse 
from  the  slower  outfit,  and  pushed  on  rapidly  in  advance, 
to  search  for  water. 

The  grandest  sight  of  the  day  was  a  large  band  of  wild 
horses,  driven1  by  a  magnificent  black  stallion,  which 
passed  within  half  a  mile  of  us.  We  watched  them  a 
long  time  through  the  glasses,  and  they  were  in  sight  for 
a  distance  of  eight  or  ten  miles.  They  were  tired,  and 
evidently  being  pursued  by  a  "  wild-horse  outfit," — of 
which  sort  of  hunting  parties  there  were  several  on  the 
range. 

Shortly  after  seeing  these  horses,  we  met  a  wild-horse 
hunter,  who  was  badly  lost,  and  most  dilapidated-looking 
in  his  general  appearance.  A  stampede  had  carried  off 
all  his  stock,  and  instead  of  his  catching  the  wild  horses, 

1  An  explanation  of  this  will  be  found  in  a  chapter  farther  on. 


SUPPER  AT  THE  BUFFALO-WALLOW 


125 


they  had  caught  his  own,  with  exception  of  the  sorry  nag 
which  he  bestrode.  The  man  looked  thirsty,  and  we 
asked  him  if  he  would  take  a  drink,  handing  him  a  can- 
teen. His  eyes  sparkled  as  he  took  it,  and  he  drew  a 
long  pull  at  its  contents;  but  a  pale,  frightened  look 
came  over  his  face  when  he  found  that  he  had  inadvert- 
ently taken  a  drink  of — water!  He  was  expecting  some- 
thing else.  He  asked  the  way  to  the  "  O-X  "  ranch,  and 
we  told  him ;  but  he  rode  off  in  the  opposite  direction : 
he  had  lost  confidence  in  us. 

At  six  o'clock  we  found  a  buffalo-wallow  which  con- 
tained an  abundance  of  water,  and  here  we  turned  out 
and  waited  for  the  boys  to  come  up.  When  they  had 
done  so,  we  hobbled  out  the  horses,  pitched  the  tent,  and 
ate  a  supper  fit  for  the  gods.  We  found  that  the  boys 
had  brought  a  well-stocked  mess-chest  with  them  ;  and  in 
fact,  at  no  time  on  the  trip  did  we  lack  for  such  deli- 
cacies as  come  within  the  compass  of  a  tin  can,  or  of  a 
hunter's  rifle. 

Our  tent  that  night  was  a  busy  and  a  jolly  one.  Colo- 
nel Jones  and  Ez.  now  began  to  practice  with  the  lasso, 
in  order  to  work  up  their  skill  and  muscle  for  the  coming 
trial  on  the  buffalo  calves ;  and  during  their  drill  hour 
we  were  any  of  us  liable  to  lose  a  hat,  or  be  tripped  up  by 
the  heels;  while  the  greyhound,  "Don,"  was  roped  so 
often  that  he  would  howl  whenever  he  heard  the  whiz  of 
the  lasso.  The  other  members  of  the  party  were  busy  in 
various  camp  duties  —  attending  to  the  cows,  arranging 
the  interior  of  the  tent,  or  gathering  supplies  of  the  pecul- 
iar prairie  fuel,  "buffalo  chips," — several  years  old,  no 
doubt. 

The  night  passed  without  event,  except  that  a  heavy 
wind  rose  and  blew  down  our  tent.  In  the  morning  it 
was  very  raw  and  chilly,  and  we  pulled  on  overcoats  as 
we  started  out.  Soon  after  we  were  on  the  way,  the  sky 
became  overcast,  and  a  chilly  rain  came  up.  So  threat- 
ening was  the  sky  that  at  one  time,  while  in  the  breaks  of 


126 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


Gough  creek  (another  dry  stream),  we  thought  we  should 
have  to  go  into  camp.  It  was  during  this  storm  that  we 
saw,  far  off  to  our  left,  a  small  bunch  of  rapidly  moving 
objects.  We  had  long  since  formed  the  habit  of  scanning 
writh  the  glasses  everything  that  moved ;  but  up  to  this 
time  we  had  found  only  cattle,  wild  horses,  wolves,  and 
antelopes.  As  soon  as  he  saw  these  animals  through  the 
glasses,  Colonel  Jones  gave  an  exclamation  of  surprise : 
4 'Why,  they're  going  against  the  storm!  "  And  a  mo- 
ment later  added,  "Yes,  they  're  buffalo,  sure!  " 

At  once  we  all  caught  at  the  remaining  glass.  The  ani- 
mals were  three  or  four  miles  distant,  and  the  rain  made 
everything  obscure,  so  that  their  shapes  could  hardly  be 
distinguished,  although  it  could  be  seen  that  they  were 
running  furiously,  and  that  directly  into  the  wind. 

"Boys,"  said  Mr.  Jones,  "those  are  buffalo.  The  buf- 
falo is  the  only  animal  that  ever  runs  against  a  storm. 
Cattle  or  horses  drift  before  it,  but  a  buffalo,  never." 

Presently  the  course  of  the  animals  brought  them  within 
a  mile  and  a  half  of  us.  Ricker  and  I  kept  the  glasses  on 
them,  and  at  last  we  felt  that  we  could  really  say  we  had 
seen  our  first  buffalo.  We  could  see  the  humps  plainly, 
and  could  see  how  low  they  carried  their  heads  as  they 
went  on  in  their  tireless,  lumbering  gallop.  There  were 
only  three  —  a  cow,  a  yearling,  and  a  calf.  We  were  half- 
frantic  to  get  at  them,  but  Mr.  Jones  refused  to  tire  the 
horses  by  a  chase  after  so  small  a  number,  and  much  to 
our  regret  we  drove  on.  Were  we  then  indeed  upon  the 
buffalo  range  ?  we  asked.  Were  those  indeed  buffalo,  and 
had  we  indeed  —  we,  who  had  longed  all  our  lives  to  see  a 
buffalo  —  seen  these  real,  wild  ones  ?  Then  rose  the  ques- 
tion, Would  we  see  any  more  ?  When  we  thought  of  that, 
we  begged  Colonel  Jones  to  turn  back,  and  at  one  time 
nearly  persuaded  him  to  do  so;  but  he  assured  us  we 
would  see  plenty  more. 

We  crossed  Tepee  creek,  finding  some  water  in  pools 
near  the  trail.    Beyond  that,  the  first  water  was  the 


LIFE   ON  THE  PLAINS 


127 


SCENES  ON   THE  JOURNEY 


128 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


North  Fork  of  the  Canadian,  here  known  as  the  Beaver; 
and  as  we  were  now  assured  that  there  was  enough  along 
the  trail  for  our  cattle,  we  pushed  on  across  to  the  latter 
stream,  and  took  dinner  at  the  ''Anchor  D  "  ranch,  pretty 
near  the  "  jumping-off  place  "  of  the  world,  it  being  close 
to  the  south  line  of  the  Neutral  Strip  and  the  north  line 
of  Texas.  On  the  range,  the  different  cattle  outfits  are 
known  only  by  their  brands,  and  a  man's  ranch  goes  by 
the  name  of  his  brand,  and  not  by  his  name.  Thus  we 
had  heard  of  the  "  O-X  "  ranch,  the  "  TV  Bar"  ranch, 
etc.,  etc.,  but  had  no  idea  as  to  who  owned 

them.  We  found  that  the  "Anchor  D"  brand  S-  wj 

belonged  to  E.  C.  Dudley,  of  Boston,  who  ^=^J 
has  about  15,000  head  of  cattle  on  this  southern  ranch, 
and  about  as  many  more  on  his  ranch  in  Wyoming.  Mr. 
Dudley  was  not  at  home ;  but  we  ate  his  bread  and  bacon 
just  the  same. 

We  were  now  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from 
our  starting-point,  well  down  to  where  we  might  expect 
to  see  or  hear  of  the  buffaloes ;  but,  though  we  made  in- 
quiry at  the  ranch,  we  could  get  no  news  of  the  herd. 
They  might  be  at  a  point  known  as  "Company  M,"  or 
down  on  the  Agua  Frio,  or  there  might  be  water  enough 
along  the  San  Francisco  to  hold  them,  or  they  might  be 
out  on  the  Flats,  at  some  water-hole  known  only  to  them- 
selves :  nobody  seemed  to  know.  We  were  not  surprised 
at  the  seeming  ignorance,  for  we  knew  that  the  cattlemen 
would  not  tell  us  of  the  herd  if  they  were  within  ten  miles 
of  us ;  and  Colonel  Jones  says  he  always  finds  buffalo  in 
the  opposite  direction  from  that  advised  to  go.  Such 
perquisites  as  pertain  to  calf-hunting,  the  cowboys  usu- 
ally prefer  to  retain  for  themselves ;  besides,  seeing  in  all 
visitors  possible  forerunners  of  the  dreaded  "grangers," 
the  cattlemen  are  reticent  on  that  account,  and  will,  if 
possible,  send  a  man  out  of  the  country  as  ignorant  as  he 
came  in,  and  devoid  of  even  the  knowledge  of  the  "  lay  of 
the  land  "  which  a  buffalo-hunt  would  give  him.  There- 


BUFFALO  SIGHTED  IN  THE  DISTANCE 


129 


fore  our  leader  was  not  in  the  least  put  out  by  this  gen- 
eral "blankness"  in  regard  to  the  buffalo,  and  announced 
to  us  his  intention  of  making  at  once  for  the  headwaters 
of  the  Beaver. 

We  were  now  perhaps  thirty  miles  in  advance  of  the  slow- 
moving  heavy  wagon,  but  instructions  had  been  left  for 
the  boys  to  take  our  trail  up  the  Beaver,  and  to  shape 
their  course  for  the  upper  pools  of  that  stream,  and  there 
pitch  the  main  camp  while  we  were  scouting  for  the  herd 
with  our  lighter  vehicle.  We  had  with  us  two  extra 
running-horses, —  the  gray,  and  the  bay  mare  "Jennie." 
The  black  runner  was  hitched  in  with  a  heavy  mate  at  the 
buggy.  We  had  also  plenty  of  hobbles  for  tying  the  calves 
if  caught,  and  young  Carter  was  with  us  in  the  buggy, 
ready  for  work  if  the  herd  should  be  sighted. 

We  crowded  the  horses  up  the  trail  until  it  left  the 
breaks  of  the  Beaver,  then  drove  out  on  the  high  prairies. 
We  spun  across  a  great  expanse,  picked  our  way  across  the 
North  Fork  of  the  Beaver,  and  swung  off  to  the  left,  head- 
ing for  the  upper  pools  of  the  main  stream,  which  we  knew 
were  dry  above  a  certain  point,  twenty  miles  up.  All  the 
time,  the  glasses  were  kept  in  play,  and  nothing  within 
ten  miles  escaped  us. 

The  sun  was  getting  well  on  in  his  last  quarter,  and  we 
were  trundling  along  just  at  the  edge  of  the  breaks  of 
the  South  Fork,  when  our  eyes  were  caught  by  a  cloud  of 
dust  rising  from  the  other  side  of  a  little  ridge.  We 
snatched  up  the  glasses.  The  cloud  came  nearer.  It 
was  approaching.  It  swung  up  over  the  crest.  Huge 
black  forms  —  twenty — thirty  —  fifty — sixty  —  rolled  and 
surged  along  with  it,  heading  almost  toward  us.  No  need 
of  glasses  now.  Our  tongues  "  froze  stiff  "  over  the  com- 
mon thought,  until,  a  second  later,  our  leader  sprang 
clear  of  the  buggy  at  a  single  bound,  and  shouted  in  a 
voice  like  a  bugle  — 

"Get  out  the  horses!    They  're  buffalo,  by  Jupiter! 
Give  me  the  lasso !  ' ' 
—  9 


130 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


That  they  were  indeed  buffalo,  every  drop  of  blood  in 
our  veins  was  attesting.  On  they  came  —  huge,  rolling 
black  hulks  enveloped  in  a  circling  cloud  of  dust.  A 
grand  "view  halloa"  burst  from  us  as  they  passed. 
They  were  running  strung  out  in  line,  buffalo-fashion, 
and  square  into  the  wind.  They  must  have  scented  us, 
and  obviously  had  first  taken  fright  when,  at  a  distance 
of  three-quarters  of  a  mile  or  more,  they  had  "got  the 
wind"  of  us;  but  they  paid  no  attention  to  us  as  they 
held  on  their  mad  and  headlong  flight.  They  passed 
within  three  hundred  yards,  bearing  to  the  left;  we  could 
easily  have  shot  into  them  if  desired. 

How  vanished  every  ache,  pain,  and  thought  of  weari- 
ness !  It  was  not  ground  we  touched,  nor  hot  air  we 
breathed.  We  were  not  creatures  hampered  with  flesh  and 
blood,  but  borne  up  on  the  wings  of  the  hunter's  exalta- 
tion. The  very  horses  snorted  and  tugged  at  their  ropes. 
The  greyhound  flashed  out  like  an  arrow  from  a  bow,  and, 
laying  a  cunning  angle  for  himself,  ran  into  the  herd 
almost  at  once,  where  he  worried  at  a  yearling,  until 
kicked  and  beaten  out  of  the  dust-cloud;  and  realizing 
that  the  game  was  too  large  for  him,  he  ran  back  to  the 
team  and  fairly  begged  us  to  come  on. 

The  horses  were  nearly  ready.  At  the  first  flash  of  con- 
viction every  man  was  on  the  ground,  and  tugging  at  the 
load  to  get  out  the  calf -hobbles, —  which  of  course  were  at 
the  bottom  of  the  wagon.  Then  a  saddle  had  to  be  im- 
provised; a  lasso  got  tangled  up,  and  a  bridle  was  lost 
just  as  it  was  needed.  The  horses  were  not  saddled,  or 
even  bridled,  for  we  were  not  expecting  buffaloes  so  soon. 
Everything  had  to  be  done  in  a  moment.  Colonel  Jones, 
for  an  old  buffalo-hunter,  showed  himself  at  least  free 
from  all  stoicism,  and  was  fairly  wild  to  get  into  the 
chase.  Never  was  change  in  a  man's  demeanor  more  sud- 
den. His  eyes  were  riveted  on  the  flying  dust-cloud,  and 
he  tightened  up  his  saddle-cinch  instinctively  and  without 
looking  at  it.    But  if  everything  had  to  be  done  quickly, 


IN  PURSUIT  OF  THE  HERD 


131 


everything  was  quickly  done,  and  away  flashed  the  two 
riders,  coiling  up  the  long  lassos  as  the  horses  ran. 

The  third  running-horse  could  not  be  spared  from  the 
team,  as  the  wagon  must  follow  the  chase  to  pick  up  the 
calves.  Ricker  and  myself  therefore  remained  for  that 
duty.  We  bundled  the  disordered  baggage  back  into  the 
wagon,  sprang  on  top  of  it,  and  whipped  off  in  pursuit, 
going  at  the  wildest  rate  I  ever  tried  on  wheels,  and  bound 
to  "get  there"  if  the  running-gear  held  together.  The 
wagon  jumped  over  dog-holes,  hummocks  and  sinks,  and 
the  springs  clashed  together  at  every  bound  ;  but  we  man- 
aged to  hold  on  some  way, —  can't  tell  how, — and  laid  the 
team  flat  down  in  our  determination  to  be  in  with  the 
crowd . 

Short  as  the  time  of  preparation  had  been,  the  herd  had 
passed,  and  was  over  a  mile  away  before  the  riders  started. 
Yet  Colonel  Jones,  after  the  first  burst  of  racing-speed, 
held  back  the  pace,  and  galloped  easily  on  in  the  rear  of 
the  herd,  restraining  the  eagerness  of  the  bay  mare  Jen- 
nie to  close  in  on  the  herd.  Let  it  not  be  supposed  that 
all  horses  are  able  to  close  in  at  once  with  these  animals. 
There  are  few  horses  which  can  do  so  at  all.  The  buffalo 
appears  clumsy,  even  when  in  motion,  but  its  actual  speed 
is  surprising,  and  it  holds  its  gait  wonderfully  well.  In 
running  its  action  is  not  stiff-legged,  like  that  of  a  cow, 
which  places  her  hind  feet  directly  in  the  print  of  the  front 
ones ;  but  to  the  contrary,  the  buffalo  spreads  the  hind  feet 
well  apart,  like  a  horse,  and  throws  them  clear  in  front  of 
the  fore  feet,  hurling  its  great  body  on  in  a  style  not  un- 
like that  of  the  racer.  The  apparent  clumsiness  of  the 
gait  probably  arises  from  the  large  hump,  and  from  the 
fact  that  the  buffalo  always  runs  with  its  nose  almost 
against  the  ground.  The  hind  feet  come  up  almost  on 
either  side  of  the  nose  when  the  animal  is  at  full  speed. 
When  running  together  in  large  numbers  their  speed  is 
materially  reduced,  and  it  is  then  that  a  horseman  can 
most  easily  approach  them.    A  cow  and  her  calf,  alone 


EXCITING  TIMES 


GRAPHIC  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  CHASE 


133 


and  at  a  distance  from  the  herd,  would  say  good-bye  to  al- 
most any  horse,  with  a  start  of  a  quarter  of  a  mile.  Calves 
a  month  old  appear  to  run  about  as  well  as  the  older  ani- 
mals. 

But  all  this  time  my  companion  and  I  were  not  in- 
dulging in  abstractions,  but  were  trying  to  overtake 
the  riders.  All  at  once  the  herd  disappeared  over  a 
ridge.  Then  the  cloud  of  dust  appeared  over  the  top, 
and  began  swinging  off  to  the  right.  Like  a  flash  the 
conduct  of  the  riders  changed.  With  a  common  impulse 
they  leaned  forward  in  the  saddles.  The  horses  sprang 
forward  at  four  times  their  original  speed,  and  making  an 
.angle  of  forty-five  degrees  to  their  former  course,  they 
swept  off  to  the  right,  across  our  track,  sailed  —  flew  — 
drifted  up  along  the  ridge ;  topped  it;  disappeared.  Half 
a  mile  was  saved;  and  we  knew  the  run  was  on  just  be- 
yond the  ridge.  How  we  crossed  the  intervening  space  I 
do  not  know,  but  in  a  moment  we  were  over  the  hill,  and 
making  sharp  to  the  right  on  the  other  side, —  tearing 
down  to  where  we  could  see  the  horsemen  leaping  into 
the  very  edge  of  the  blinding  cloud.  Colonel  Jones  and 
" Jennie"  were  ahead;  the  mare  seemed  to  fly.  The 
•sight  was  a  grand  one.  With  head  well  down  and  nos- 
trils wide,  the  bay  beauty  tore  in  on  them,  eager  as  her 
rider,  and  was  never  once  called  on  with  the  spur.  She 
-crowded  into  the  dust,  into  the  herd,  pushed  out  from  it 
a  cow  and  calf,  and  lay  alongside  of  them  in  her  stride. 
Then  we  saw  her  rider  lean  forward.  Up  came  his  hand, 
circling  the  wide  coil  of  the  rope.  We  could  almost  hear 
it  whistle  through  the  air.  The  next  instant  out  it  flew. 
In  a  flash  the  dust  was  gone,  and  there  was  Colonel  Jones 
kneeling  on  top  of  a  struggling  little  tawny  object,  while 
Jennie  stood  by  looking  on  complacently.  A  second  later 
the  little  object  was  hobbling  around  upon  the  grass  alone  ; 
Colonel  Jones  was  following  young  Carter  now,  and  we 
were  making  for  the  calf.  The  herd  at  once  swept  out  of 
sight,  and  we  of  course  saw  no  more  of  it,  for  we  were 


134 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


busy  with  the  captive,  and  had  no  more  fortunate  angles 
offered  to  save  distance. 

We  drove  up  to  the  first  victim.  He  was  a  comical- 
looking,  round-headed,  curly  little  rascal;  we  laughed 
when  approaching  him.  The  first  thing  he  did  was  to 
utter  a  hoarse  bawl,  and  charge  at  us  with  head  down. 
In  doing  this,  of  course  the  hobble  tripped  him,  and  he 
turned  a  somersault.  Before  he  could  recover,  we  sat 
down  on  top  of  him — the  first  buffalo  calf  we  had  ever 
seen.  We  found  that  he  was  secured  in  precisely  the  best 
and  most  effectual  way  that  could  have  been  devised.  The 
hobble  was  made  of  several  strands  of  untwisted  rope.  At 
the  middle  it  was  tied  in  a  large  loop,  which  was  slipped 
over  the  calf's  head ;  the  two  loose  ends  —  which  were  left 
of  just  that  length  which  experience  told  was  right — were 
slip-noosed.  These  loops  were  fastened  just  above  each 
hind  foot,  where  they  sat  tight  on  the  pastern  joint,  and 
drew  the  tighter  for  each  struggle  the  calf  made  to  free 
itself.  Thus  shackled,  the  captive  was  unable  to  make  any 
progress,  but  at  the  same  time  was  not  choked,  or  held  in 
any  way  calculated  to  injure  it.  This  was  the  system  of 
calf-hobbling  devised  after  the  experience  of  other  hunts. 
Of  course,  the  adjusting  of  the  hobble  took  but  an  instant ; 
and  that  was  necessary,  for  even  after  the  delay  of  a  min- 
ute the  herd  would  gain  ground  enough  to  make  it  hard  to 
overtake. 

As  we  afterwards  learned,  Carter  and  the  gray  horse  got 
into  the  edge  of  the  herd  easily  enough,  but  the  horse  could 
not  be  pushed  in  close  enough  for  roping-distance,  as  he 
was  afraid  of  the  buffalo.  Carter  spurred  and  "quirted" 
him  in  vain ;  he  was  just  the  same  old  "  gray  devil,"  and 
needed  the  "stay-chain."  Carter  was  furious  at  his  in- 
ability to  reach  a  calf.  Colonel  Jones  again  passed  him, 
and  went  into  the  herd  within  two  miles  of  the  place 
where  the  first  calf  was  caught.  He  missed  his  cast  at  the 
next  calf,  but  the  mare  did  not  stop.  As  she  ran  along- 
side of  the  now  angry  animal,  Colonel  Jones  stooped  down 


COW  FIGHTS  TO  THE  DEATH 


135 


and  caught  it  by  the  tail,  turning  it  heels  over  head,  and 
before  it  could  rise  the  Colonel  was  on  top,  held  it  in  his 
arms,  and  then  hobbled  it.  This  was  a  large  bull  calf, 
the  largest  taken  on  the  entire  hunt,  and  he  made  a  big 
fight  after  his  fall.  It  was  not  difficult  to  turn  him  over 
by  the  tail, —  for  the  largest  Texas  steer  can  be  thrown 
headlong  by  a  horseman  in  the  same  manner,  while  at  full 
speed.    But  the  calf  was  like  a  basketful  of  eels  to  hold. 

The  last  calf  was  caught  by  Carter,  who  roped  it  neatly 
as  Colonel  Jones  cut  it  out  of  the  herd  and  turned  it  to- 
ward him.  This  was  a  fine  heifer  calf,  and  was  apparently 
the  idol  of  her  mother's  heart,  for  the  latter  came  very 
near  making  a  casualty  the  price  of  the  capture.  As  soon 
as  the  calf  was  roped,  the  cow  left  the  herd  and  charged  on 
Carter  viciously  as  he  bent  over  his  victim.  Seeing  the 
danger,  Colonel  Jones  rode  up  just  in  time,  and  drove  the 
cow  off  for  a  moment;  but  she  returned  again  and  again, 
and  finally  began  charging  at  him  whenever  he  came  near : 
so  that,  much  as  he  regretted  it,  he  was  compelled  to  shoot 
her  with  his  revolver,  killing  her  almost  instantly.  This 
was  an  unwished  result,  and  was  much  deplored,  for  we 
came,  not  to  slay,  but  to  rescue. 

After  this  last  affair  was  over,  both  rode  on  after  the 
herd,  which  was  by  this  time  far  toward  the  darkening 
horizon.  The  horses  were  now  well  u  blown,"  for  they 
had  run  in  on  the  herd  not  only  once,  twice,  but  three 
times,  and  had  gone  a  distance  of  eight  or  ten  miles  from 
the  start.  Colonel  Jones  soon  pulled  up,  and  turned  back 
to  find  the  wagon ;  but  Carter  was  angry  at  his  horse,  and 
followed  the  herd  until  upon  its  flanks,  though  he  could 
not  get  the  gray  within  roping-distance.  The  horse  came 
back  pretty  well  "  winded,"  and  with  Carter  swearing  at 
him  for  a  coward.  In  the  meantime  my  companion  and 
I  had,  by  dint  of  severe  exertion,  got  the  first  calf  tied  up 
more  firmly  and  secured  in  the  light  wagon,  where  it  re- 
quired all  of  our  strength  to  keep  it  until  we  devised  the 
plan  of  piling  the  heavy  tent  upon  it.   We  then  drove 


186 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


on  along  the  trail,  using  the  glass  all  the  time  to  sight  the 
next  captive, —  which  we  presently  did,  at  a  distance  of 
over  a  mile  from  us.  We  repeated  our  tactics  here,  having 
a  great  time  with  this  big  fellow;  then  drove  on,  meeting 
Colonel  Jones  before  we  got  to  the  last  calf.  Part  of  the 
time  we  had  not  kept  to  the  trail,  but  had  cut  across  the 
curves  the  herd  made,  depending  on  the  glass  to  locate  any 
calf  that  might  be  left.  As  it  was  possible  and  quite  easy 
to  miss  seeing  so  small  an  object  at  such  long  distances, 
we  were  glad  to  learn  that  we  had  found  all  that  had  been 
caught. 

It  was  nearly  dark  by  the  time  we  had  the  last  calf  in 
the  wagon,  and  as  soon  as  Carter  came  up,  all  started 
back  toward  the  Beaver.  We  could  not  camp,  for  we  had 
no  water,  and  the  horses  needed  it  sadly.  As  there  was 
none  elsewhere  within  twenty  miles,  it  will  be  seen  how 
absolutely  necessary  it  was  that  we  find  the  river.  It 
should  be  remembered  that  this  river  had  no  water  in  it, 
except  at  certain  places ;  and  we  did  not  yet  know  where 
those  places  were.  We  might  have  to  drive  twenty  miles 
after  getting  to  the  river-bed,  and  might  have  to  travel 
nearly  that  far  in  trying  to  get  down  through  the  breaks 
which  fenced  in  the  stream.  All  this  was  pretty  near  to 
being  serious ;  but  it  was  one  of  the  exigencies  of  buffalo- 
hunting, —  so  we  said  nothing,  but  turned  in  the  direc- 
tion where  we  knew  the  stream  lay,  and  ran  by  the 
compass  and  the  stars,  driving  in  darkness  which  grew 
more  dense  at  every  moment.  If  our  leader  had  been  a 
man  inexperienced  on  the  Plains,  or  unacquainted  with 
the  general  lay  of  the  country,  we  would  have  had  a  dry 
camp  that  night,  and  would  in  all  probability  have  lost 
our  calves,  to  say  nothing  of  any  possible  discomfiture  to 
ourselves,  or  injury  to  our  horses. 

In  an  hour  or  so  we  came  to  the  edge  of  the  breaks, 
and  began  to  hunt  a  way  down  through  them.  Ricker 
and  Carter  rode  off  to  the  right,  while  Colonel  Jones 
•drove  a  little  to  the  left.    We  noticed  that  all  the  trails 


SEARCHING  FOR  WATER  IN  THE  DARKNESS 


137 


appeared  to  converge  at  the  head  of  a  certain  draw,  and 
after  driving  across  them  till  that  fact  was  established, 
we  knew  that  they  led  to  water.  We  therefore  followed 
down  this  draw,  and  fired  signals  for  the  boys  to  come  in. 
Presently  we  heard  Carter  fire,  he  having  got  out  on  a 
point  at  our  left.  We  called  to  him,  and  he  found  his 
way  down  into  the  draw.  Ricker  had  not  come  in,  and 
did  not  answer  any  signal;  so,  fearing  he  was  lost,  Carter 
went  back  after  him.  Colonel  Jones  and  myself,  follow- 
ing the  draw,  presently  got  into  the  valley  and  found  wa- 
ter. There  was  not  much,  and  it  was  tramped  up  by 
cattle  and  had  several  dead  carcasses  in  it ;  but  still  it 
was  water,  and  we  were  glad  to  find  it. 

By  the  time  we  had  the  horses  out,  and  the  baggage  on 
the  ground,  Ricker  and  Carter  got  into  camp,  the  former 
insisting  that  he  was  one  of  the  sort  that  didn't  get  lost. 
We  all  fell  to  and  proceeded  to  water  the  horses  and  get 
camp  up.  We  found  there  was  no  axe  or  hatchet  with  us, 
but  were  lucky  enough  to  find  a  hard  stone,  with  which 
we  drove  our  tent-pins  —  for  it  looked  like  rain,  and  we 
concluded  to  pitch  the  tent.  We  had  no  coffee-mill ;  but 
an  old  buffalo-skull,  a  bit  of  canvas  and  the  stone  served 
instead. 

Presently  the  clouds  broke,  and  the  southern  moon 
peeped  out  brightly.  It  revealed  another  pool  of  water 
below  us,  and  we  could  see  a  bunch  of  ducks  upon  it.  As 
we  had  not  stopped  to  butcher  our  buffalo,  we  had  no 
meat;  so  Ricker  took  his  three-barrel  and  shot  four 
ducks,  which  Ez.  fished  out  with  his  lasso.  When  we 
went  down  to  the  water  we  heard  something  flopping  in 
it,  and  discovered  that  it  was  fairly  alive  with  bullhead 
fish.  We  therefore  supposed  that  the  running  water 
could  not  be  very  far  away.  A  search  soon  revealed 
that  a  succession  of  pools  began  a  short  distance  below 
our  camp.  While  investigating  this  matter,  a  plowed 
furrow,  running  down  near  to  the  bank  of  the  stream, 
caught  Colonel  Jones's  attention,  and  following  it  up  he 


138 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


found  a  little  patch  of  breaking,  a  dugout,  and  a  well. 
He  knew  then  that  we  were  at  Lee  Howard's  cabin,  on 
the  very  headwaters  of  the  Beaver,  in  the  Neutral  Strip 
(  u  No  Man's  Land").  Howard  is  a  half-hunter,  half- 
freighter,  and  half -ranchman,  who  has  squatted  on  this 
claim,  away  out  of  the  world.  The  water  will  make  him 
rich  some  day. 

The  owner  of  the  dugout  was  not  at  home,  but  we  got 
some  good  water  at  his  well,  and  helped  ourselves  to  a 
"  Dutch  oven,"  a  hammer,  a  piece  of  kindling-wood,  and 
a  few  other  things  which  we  found  lying  around,  and 
which  we  thought  would  do  more  good  at  our  camp  than 
where  they  were.  Then,  as  our  little  fire  of  "  chips  "  was 
going  nicely,  Ez.  soon  had  some  bread  baking,  the  coffee- 
pot simmering,  and  some  bacon  and  skinned  teal  sizzling 
in  the  frying-pan.  Our  stove  was  a  buffalo-skull,  and  our 
shovel  a  shoulder-blade.  No  Man's  Land  is  entirely  de- 
void of  timber,  and  even  of  small  sticks. 

While  we  were  getting  supper  and  arranging  the  tent, 
Colonel  Jones  was  busy  with  the  calves .  Taking  a  long  rope , 
he  stretched  it  along  the  ground,  fastening  the  ends  to  two 
strong  tent-pins,  driven  to  the  head  in  the  ground.  On 
this  rope  he  strung  his  calves,  like  fish  on  a  trot-line,  each 
calf  being  tied  by  the  neck,  and  with  its  limbs  left  free. 
This  arrangement  gave  them  plenty  of  play  and  kept  them 
from  injury,  while  at  the  same  time  it  rendered  their  es- 
cape impossible.  The  little  fellows  were  vigorous  and  full 
of  fight,  and  whenever  anyone  came  near  they  would  lower 
their  heads  and  come  at  him  with  a  short  bawl.  We 
amused  ourselves  by  pushing  each  other  upon  them,  and 
found  by  experience  that  they  could  butt  hard  enough  to 
knock  a  man  entirely  off  his  feet.  They  spent  most  of 
their  time  standing  with  head  down,  back  humped  up, 
and  tail  cocked  out,  pawing  the  ground  for  all  the  world 
like  an  old  bull,  and  from  time  to  time  uttering  short, 
hoarse  bawls,  which  sounded  much  more  like  the  grunt  of 
a  hog  than  the  bleat  of  a  calf. 


/ 


LEE  HOWARD. 


CHARLES  RUDE. 


WATCHING  THE  CAPTIVES 


139 


Interested  in  the  actions  of  our  strange  and  wild  little 
captives,  we  sat  beside  them  after  supper  until  a  late  hour. 
Then  we  rolled  up  in  our  blankets  and  went  to  sleep,  tell- 
ing each  other  that  we  were  the  luckiest  fellows  in  all  the 
world. 


CHAPTER  IX 


SECOND  CALF-HUNT  (Continued) 

MILKING  A  BUFFALO  COW  EXCELLENT  BUTTER  CAUSED  BY 

THE  JOSTLE  OF  THE  WAGON — DOMESTIC  COWS  ARRIVE  — 
LONG  MARCH  TO  THE  SOUTHWEST  —  COLONEL  JONES  MI- 
RACULOUSLY  CAPTURES  A  CALF  "  TENDERFEET  "  AFTER 

BUFFALO  BULLS — TOOK  TWO  TO  KILL  ONE,  AND  THEN 
DIDN'T  KILL  HIM — CLOUD  OF  SMOKE  PROVED  TO  BE 
DUST —  "  THE  HERD!  THE  HERD  !  " —  COLONEL  JONES 
NEVER  LOST,  BY  DAY  OR  NIGHT —  1 4  GET  DOWN  AND 
CRAWL" — BUFFALO  IN  CAMP  —  THE  COLONEL  AWAY,  BUT 
HOLES  ARE  CUT  IN  HIS  TENT  THROUGH  WHICH  TO  SHOOT, 
JUST  THE  SAME — CALF-HUNTERS  RETURN  TO  CAMP  IN  A 
DEPLORABLE  CONDITION  —  HORSES  LEFT  -TO  DIE — PLENTY 
OF  CALVES,  BUT  NO  WATER  —  TENDERFEET  NOT  SATISFIED 
—  WANTED  ANOTHER  TRIAL,  THEN  ANOTHER 

EARLY  on  the  morning  of  the  14th  of  May  we  were 
astir  and  preparing  for  the  day's  work.  We  could 
not  expect  the  main  outfit  up  until  the  following 
day,  and  feared  we  would  lose  all  our  calves  before 
it  arrived,  for  we  had  not  a  cow  with  us,  of  course,  and 
not  even  a  can  of  condensed  milk.  It  was  decided  to 
lasso  a  range  cow,  and  milk  her  by  force ;  but  at  that 
early  hour  no  cattle  had  yet  come  in  to  water,  and  there 
were  none  in  sight  among  the  breaks.  All  that  could  be 
done,  therefore,  was  to  try  to  induce  our  panting  and  suf- 
fering little  captives  to  drink  of  the  water  which  we 
offered  them ;  but  they  refused  to  be  comforted,  and  in- 

(140) 


E.  HOUGH. 


BUTTER  FROM  MILK*  OF  A  BUFFALO  COW  141 

dignantly  butted  the  waterpail  endways  whenever  it  was 
left  near  them,  or  charged  headlong  at  a  wet  rag  or  a  stick. 

Colonel  Jones  concluded  to  go  out  on  the  range  and  try* 
to  find  the  herd  again,  then  to  return,  and  in  the  even- 
ing either  rope  a  range  cow,  or  drive  down  in  the  night 
to  meet  our  team  and  get  some  condensed  milk  to  keep 
the  calves  alive  until  the  domestic  cows  would  arrive. 
Accordingly,  he,  Ricker  and  Carter  started  out  with  all 
the  horses,  directly  after  breakfast.  It  fell  to  my  lot  to 
remain  and  guard  the  camp  —  a  duty  which,  in  view  of  a 
possible  buffalo-chase,  I  did  not  relish  very  much. 

At  three  o'clock  our  scouting-party  returned.  They  had 
not  found  the  herd,  but  had  met  two  buffalo  cows,  un- 
doubtedly the  mothers  of  the  captured  calves,  whose  ma- 
ternal instinct  had  led  them  to  return  in  search  of  their 
offspring.  One  cow  was  killed  for  meat ;  her  udder  was 
full  of  milk,  and  as  there  was  no  water  to  be  had,  the 
Colonel  concluded  to  fill  a  canteen  with  the  precious  fluid, 
as  the  day  was  very  hot.  After  milking  the  canteen  about 
half-full  he  corked  it  up  and  tossed  it  into  the  spring 
wagon.  After  about  two  hours  of  travel  he  concluded  to 
take  a  drink,  but  the  fluid  would  not  come  out,  and  he 
concluded  there  must  be  a  dead  mouse  or  some  kind  of 
trash  in  the  can.  By  close  observation  it  was  discovered 
the  jostling  of  the  wagon  had  churned  the  milk  into  but- 
ter, which  was  as  solid  and  yellow  as  that  of  the  best  Jersey 
right  from  the  creamery,  and  satisfactory  in  quantity, — 
all  of  which  was  left  in  the  can  until  the  camp  was  reached, 
when  it  was  extracted,  salted,  and  we  had  one  grand  feast 
of  hot  biscuits  and  buffalo  butter.  The  wonderful  rich- 
ness of  the  milk  and  deliciousness  of  the  butter  nerved 
our  leader  up  in  his  endeavors  to  domesticate  this  valu- 
able animal.  v 

During  the  day  a  great  scope  of  country  had  been  cov- 
ered, but  no  further  signs  of  buffalo  were  found,  and  no 
water  could  be  discovered  anywhere.  The  flats  were  en- 
tirely dry.    It  was  a  problem  where  the  buffalo  could  be. 


142 


FORTY  YEARS   QF  ADVENTURES 


Colonel  Jones  now  started  down  the  Beaver  to  meet  the 
team,  giving  neither  himself  nor  his  horses  any  rest, — 
for  it  was  imperative  that  we  get  milk,  or  we  would  lose 
our  calves.  The  little  fellows  began  to  look  gaunt,  their 
tongues  black  and  swollen,  hanging  from  their  mouths, 
while  they  continually  uttered  their  hoarse,  groaning 
grunts  of  complaint.  The  remainder  of  the  party  began 
to  move  the  camp  up  nearer  to  the  edge  of  the  bluff, 
where  the  stench  of  the  decaying  carcasses  which  lay  in 
the  water  would  be  less  unendurable.  The  weather  in 
the  daytime  was  very  warm,  though  the  nights  in  that 
country  are  always  cool. 

A  couple  of  hours  after  dark  we  heard  repeated  halloos 
and  shots.  We  replied,  and  soon  heard  voices  of  our  own 
party,  and  knew  that  by  some  unprecedentedly  good  gen- 
eralship they  had  succeeded  in  getting  the  cows  in, —  a 
full  day  earlier  than  they  could  reasonably  be  expected. 
It  happened  that  Colonel  Jones  went  down  just  in  time, 
for  if  he  had  not  met  them  they  would  have  kept  on  up 
the  flats,  and  passed  our  camp,  to  wander  no  one  knew 
how  far  into  the  waterless  country. 

Everything  was  now  confusion  in  camp.  We  had  a 
great  many  animals  to  take  care  of,  and  it  necessitated 
work.  The  cows  had  all  to  be  lassoed  and  hobbled  —  a 
matter  which  they  always  resented;  the  horses  to  be  wa- 
tered ;  supper  to  cook,  and  a  hundred  other  things  to  be 
done.  One  of  the  first  of  these  duties  was  the  feeding  of 
the  buffalo  calves ;  and  this  was  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing features  of  the  whole  hunt.  Ez.  roped  a  certain  old 
red  cow,  of  about  as  near  the  right  color  as  any  we  had, 
and  hobbled  her  securely  fore  and  aft;  then  we  picked 
out  the  youngest  calf,  and  approached — the  little  fellow 
butting  and  fighting  viciously.  The  cow  turned  her  head, 
and  promptly  kicked  so  hard  she  broke  the  hobble  and 
sent  the  calf  a  somersault  to  begin  with.  This  did  not 
daunt  it,  however,  and  it  returned,  seeming  to  take  in  the 
situation  at  a  glance.    It  was  strange,  but  after  a  few 


BUFFALO  CALF  ADOPTED  BY  DOMESTIC   COW  143 

moments  this  cow  and  buffalo  calf  seemed  to  "take  to  " 
each  other.  The  best  of  relations  were  established  be- 
tween them,  and  within  an  hour  the  curly  little  rascal 
was  lying  down  by  the  side  of  his  new  mother,  chuck  full 
of  milk,  and  "happy  as  a  clam."  This  calf  was  never 
wild  after  that,  but  could  be  approached  easily,  and  was 
perfectly  docile.  In  the  morning  we  let  it  loose  near  the 
cow,  and  it  followed  her  about,  kicking  up  its  heels  and 
bawling  out  of  very  exuberance  of  spirits.  The  next  day 
after,  the  cows  were  hobbled  and  the  calves'  lariats  were 
allowed  to  drag  loose ;  yet  they  never  made  any  attempt 
to  escape  —  even  under  certain  strange  circumstances 
(which  will  afterward  be  described).  To-day  the  "lit- 
tle "  calf  is  the  tamest  on  Colonel  Jones's  ranch,  and  the 
"old  red  stripper"  (as  she  is  called,  for  she  has  had  no 
calf  of  her  own  for  three  years)  is  its  devoted  mother. 
This  cow  took  a  great  notion  to  all  the  buffalo  calves,  and 
would  allow  two  of  them  to  suckle  at  once,  though  she 
would  drive  off  a  domestic  calf.  The  buffaloes  were  em- 
phatic, imperious  little  scamps,  and  she  seemed  to  take  a 
fancy  to  them. 

The  other  calves  gave  some  trouble.  They  did  not  take 
kindly  to  the  white  cow  which  was  introduced  to  them  as 
their  stepmother,  nor  did  she  to  them.  One' of  the  calves 
preferred  a  beer-bottle,  covered  with  a  rag ;  while  the  last 
one,  the  big  bull  calf,  would  drink  from  nothing  but  a 
bucket  —  though  he  made  a  very  good  supper  in  that  way. 
And,  it  may  not  be  believed,  but  it  is  true,  he  would  never 
afterward  drink  out  of  any  but  that  particular  pail,  which 
happened  to  be  painted  white  outside  and  in.  If  any 
other  was  offered  him,  he  would  butt  it  over  at  once,  and 
prance  around,  pawing  at  the  dirt,  until  some  one  would 
call  out,  "  Give  him  the  white  pail !"  The  scenes  of  that 
night  and  of  the  succeeding  days,  in  trying  to  teach  the 
buffalo  calves  to  assume  their  new  relations,  were  full  of 
action  and  spirit,  and  went  to  make  up  a  history  of  inter- 
esting experiences  that  never  can  be  duplicated. 


LONG  MARCH  TO  THE  SOUTHWEST 


145 


It  was  late  when  our  camp  sank  to  rest  that  night. 
The  following  day  was  the  Sabbath,  and  we  rested,  with 
exception  of  the  "  artist  fellow,"  who  made  some  draw- 
ings in  and  about  the  camp. 

The  next  day  we  started  for  "  Company  M,"  a  certain 
water-hole  situated  in  a  valley,  where,  years  ago,  a  Com- 
pany M  of  U.  S.  troops  were  snowed  in  and  spent  the 
winter.  In  the  natural  caves  where  they  were  mostly 
quartered  there  can  be  seen  to-day  numerous  names  cut 
into  the  rock,  and  also  loopholes  which  they  made  when 
fighting  the  Indians.  "Company  M"  is  near  the  west 
boundary  of  No  Man's  Land.  There  is  no  house  or  ranch 
there,  and  none  nearer  than  the  cabin  at  our  camp;  yet 
hundreds  of  catt  le  water  at  the  scanty  seepage  of  the  sandy 
river-bed.    Somebody  will  get  rich  there,  some  day. 

We  drove  to  Company  M  with  both  wagons,  taking  all 
the  horses  but  one,  and  plenty  of  supplies  for  a  week's 
trip.  We  left  the  bulk  of  our  load  at  the  home  camp, 
covered  by  the  cook-tent.  All  the  cows  were  also  left, 
and  also  the  buffalo  calves.  The  duty  of  taking  care  of 
the  home  camp  and  all  the  stock  devolved  upon  Robin- 
son, who  was  told  unceremoniously  not  to  be  surprised  if 
we  did  not  get  back  in  a  week,  or  if  we  did  n't  get  back 
at  all. 

We  drove  between  fifty  and  sixty  miles  that  day,  and 
having  a  late  start,  did  not  all  reach  Company  M  until 
nine  o'clock  at  night.  We  found  but  little  water,  but 
dug  a  hole  in  the  sand,  and  got  enough  for  our  use.  Out 
of  all  the  fresh  meat  we  had  killed,  we  had  brought  none 
with  us,  and  lived  on  salt  pork  until,  the  day  following, 
we  shot  a  cottontail  rabbit  or  two  with  rifles,  and  with 
the  shotgun  killed  a  lot  of  the  big  sickle-billed  curlews 
which  were  so  numerous  there.  We  did  not  kill  any  ante- 
lope at  this  water,  although  Ricker  and  I,  who  kept  camp 
together,  did  some  brilliant  missing  at  them.  They  often 
came  in,  and  if  it  had  not  been  so  hot,  and  we  so  lazy,  we 
—  10 


146 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


could  have  gotten  one  on  any  day.  Ricker  killed  a 
coyote,  but  we  did  not  eat  it. 

For  two  days  the  light  wagon  scoured  the  country  for 
fifty  miles  round  about,  traveling  hard  and  diligently  in 
a  most  energetic  though  fruitless  effort  to  find  some  trace 
of  the  herd.  On  one  day  three  buffaloes  were  seen,  but 
none  with  calves ;  so  they  were  not  followed.  As  in  all 
this  time  powerful  field-glasses  were  in  use,  it  may  be 
seen  that  the  buffaloes  were  very,  very  few  in  that  coun- 
try. We  began  to  be  discouraged  —  all  except  our  leader, 
whose  resolve  to  "  find  the  herd  "  seemed  never  to  flag. 

One  morning  we  were  wakened  by  a  grand  coyote  chorus, 
and  before  daylight  had  breakfast  over.  Just  as  the  sun 
was  rising  we  saw  a  little  bunch  of  animals  slowly  walk- 
ing toward  us,  about  two  miles  distant,  and  on  the  other 
side  of  a  wire  fence.  We  turned  the  glasses  on  them.  They 
looked  like  buffaloes.  We  studied  them.  They  looked 
wonderfully  like  buffaloes.  We  divided  in  our  opinions. 
Colonel  Jones  thought  they  were  buffaloes ;  but  we  did 
not  wonder  at  that,  because,  being  "Buffalo  Jones,"  he 
thought  everything  he  saw  was  a  buffalo.  Ez.  didn't 
know;  Charley  didn't  care;  Ricker  was  not  certain;  I 
knew  all  the  time  they  were  only  cattle.  Finally,  Colo- 
nel Jones  fired  a  shot  over  toward  them  from  his  rifle.  At 
once  they  strung  out  into  line  and  tailed  off,  as  hard  as 
they  could  go.  Cattle  do  not  run  at  the  sound  of  a  gun  ; 
buffaloes  always  do  —  that  is  a  habit  acquired  since  they 
have  been  hunted  so  much. 

In  a  moment  Colonel  Jones  and  Ez.  were  in  saddles  and 
racing  ahead,  with  Ricker  and  myself  a  good  second  in  the 
light  wagon,  and  Charley  following  with  the  mule  team. 
We  all  got  across  the  wire  fence,  I  don't  know  just  how, 
and  followed  after  the  dust-cloud.  The  wagons  were  far 
behind,  when,  after  a  half-hour's  breathless  drive,  we  saw 
a  horseman  appear  on  the  crest  of  a  distant  ridge,  and  he 
gave  us  the  Plains  signal  to  "Come  ahead," — which  is 
done  by  riding  at  right  angles  to  those  called  if  mounted, 


CAPTURE  ANOTHER  CALF 


147 


or  by  repeatedly  rising  and  squatting  down  if  one  is  on 
foot.  We  hurried  on,  and  soon  by  the  glass  made  out  the 
figure  to  be  Carter,  and  saw  that  he  had  at  the  end  of  his 
lasso  a  lively  red  object  which  we  knew  to  be  another  buf- 
falo calf.  Ez.  came  riding  down  on  a  gallop,  the  calf 
running-  parallel,  with  the  rope  stretched  tightly.  This 
was  the  curliest  calf  caught  on  the  trip,  and  a  fine  prize 
she  was. 

Ez.  had  lost  his  hat,  and  we  learned  that  Colonel  Jones 
had  gone  back  along  the  trail  to  find  it  and  his  field-glass, 
which  had  been  lost  in  the  chase  —  both  of  which  were 
found.  The  calf  caught  was  the  only  one  in  the  herd, 
and  there  were  but  a  dozen  buffaloes  all  told  —  all  cows. 

The  calf  was  caught  under  rather  peculiar  circum- 
stances. Both  horsemen  were  crowding  it;  Colonel  Jones 
cast  for  it,  but  it  dodged  the  noose,  and  ran  square  in 
front  of  his  horse.  The  latter  ran  against  it,  and  both 
fell,  knocking  the  calf  fully  fifteen  feet  away,  and  throw- 
ing Colonel  Jones  headlong.  The  latter  —  according  to 
his  version  —  was  satisfied,  as  he  passed  through  the  air, 
that  the  fall  would  kill  him ;  but  concluded  that  it  would 
be  as  well  to  go  into  another  world  with  a  calf  in  his  arms 
as  in  any  other  way.  He  therefore,  either  by  chance  or 
by  Providence,  fell  directly  on  top  of  the  calf,  caught  it 
in  his  arms,  and  held  on  until  Carter  roped  it.  It  was  a 
ludicrous  and  altogether  lucky  accident.  Neither  man, 
horse  nor  calf  seemed  to  be  much  injured. 

We  bundled  the  calf  into  the  big  wagon,  and  headed 
northeast  in  the  direction  of  our  main  camp,  through  ter- 
rible sandhills,  which  made  rapid  travel  impossible.  The 
day  was  very  warm.  We  gave  the  horses  all  the  water 
left,  and  started  on  with  many  misgivings.  We  were  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  Beaver  from  that  on  which  we 
had  come  up,  and  the  stream  made  a  big  bend  to  the 
south,  around  which  we  had  to  travel.  Besides,  other 
streams  made  into  it  (all  dry,  of  course),  and  as  the 
breaks  along  these  are  often  impassable  for  some  distance 


148 


FOETY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


up  and  down,  we  did  not  know  how  far  we  might  have  to 
travel. 

We  paid  little  attention  to  game  that  day,  although  we 
saw  a  great  many  antelopes  and  wolves,  but  did  not 
stop  —  except  to  kill  a  rattlesnake  or  two,  which  we 
skinned  as  we  rode  along. 

We  did  not  stop  for  dinner,  but  spent  our  time  trying 
to  find  out  where  we  were.  And,  thanks  to  fortune  and 
hard  driving,  we  at  last  got  up  to  a  little  mesa  which  was 
familiar,  and  soon  thereafter  struck  a  trail  and  better 
country  for  traveling.  We  were  truly  thankful  that  our 
leader  was  not  a  "  tenderfoot  "  ;  for  such  had  best  not  go 
hunting  in  that  country,  unless  he  wants  to  die  crazy,  and 
bleach  his  bones  among  the  sandhills. 

At  last  we  saw  a  bold  front  of  rock,  bearing  on  its  brow 
a  little  monument  or  pyramid.  (On  the  other  side  of  the 
valley  was  a  large  gray  wolf  looking  wistfully  at  our 
camp.)  This  we  knew  was  the  "Tepee  Rock,"  which 
stood  just  above  our  camp.  (These  "tepee  rocks" — so 
called  from  their  shape,  and  are  made  of  stones  or  large 
blocks  of  sod  —  are  signs  built  up  by  wild-horse  hunters, 
to  mark  the  vicinity  of  water,  and  plainsmen  steer  for 
them  when  thirsty.)  In  a  few  moments  we  came  out 
upon  a  ridge,  and  our  white  tent  lay  before  us,  a  thin 
blue  shaft  of  smoke  piercing  the  sultry  evening  air,  and 
saying  somewhat  of  supper  when  we  should  be  cool.  The 
water-pool  shone  in  the  evening  sun,  and  the  cattle  were 
grazing  about  it  or  lying  near.  Our  jaded  horses  pitched 
their  ears  forward,  and  actually  broke  into  a  trot.  The 
long  and  wearisome  day  was  over. 

The  mule  team,  with  Charley  and  Ez.,  came  in  late. 
We  were  thankful  that  the  day  had  been  no  worse.  Dur- 
ing our  absence  one  of  the  calves  had  died  —  the  only 
heifer  calf  we  had,  and  therefore  most  valued,  of  course. 
This  made  us  feel  sad  ;  so  on  the  whole  it  was  rather  a  de- 
moralized crowd  of  hunters  that  gathered  around  our  late 
supper  that  night. 


IN  PURSUIT  OF  BUFFALO  BULLS 


149  * 


After  the  disastrous,  march  from  Company  M  it  became 
necessary  to  lie  in  camp  to  rest  the  horses,  which  were 
well-nigh  broken  down  under  the  severe  tasks  which  had 
been  imposed  upon  them. 

One  afternoon  the  camp  was  out  of  meat,  and  Colonel 
Jones  started  out  to  stalk  some  antelopes  he  saw  coming 
in.  He  followed  them  up  into  the  breaks  north  of  the 
river,  and  we  heard  him  shoot.  Then  presently  we  saw 
him  coming  on  a  dead  run,  and  with  an  expression  on  his 
face  which  made  us  think  he  had  stirred  up  a  bunch  of 
Indians.  We  sat  up  and  looked  at  him.  He  bolted  for 
the  nearest  saddle,  slung  it  over  the  black  runner,  and 
called  out : 

"  Get  out  the  horses,  boys  !  Four  bulls  just  ran  out  on 
the  other  side  when  I  shot  !  " 

In  a  moment  Ricker  was  astride  of  bay  Jennie  and  I  of 
the  gray  canterer,  Colonel  Jones's  face  bearing  a  look  of 
grim  happiness.  Calling  out  to  the  boys  to  follow  with 
the  light  wagon,  he  turned  to  us  and  said : 

44  Now,  boys,  you  're  going  to  have  that  shot  at  a  bull 
which  I  have  been  promising  you." 

We  wanted  to  go  a  little  faster,  then.  Colonel  Jones 
rode  ahead  through  the  breaks,  and  found  the  trail.  The 
bulls  had  not  yet  reached  the  water,  and  ran  when  he  shot 
at  the  antelope.  The  fact  of  their  running  while  all  the 
cattle  stood  still  ( the  valley  was  full  of  cattle  at  that 
hour)  was  what  had  attracted  his  attention.  The  shot 
might  therefore  be  called  a  lucky  one.  After  a  time  the 
trail  was  found,  and  our  leader  cautiously  followed  it  up 
through  the  breaks,  not  knowing  how  far  the  game  had 
run.  At  last  he  gave  us  the  signal  to  come  on,  and  we 
galloped  up  to  the  top  of  the  level  country.  There,  four 
miles  ahead,  running  into  the  wind,  and  looming  up  as 
large  as  churches  in  the  streaming  mirage  which  sur- 
rounded them,  were  four  huge  objects  —  the  buffalo  bulls  ! 
Down  we  leaned  in  the  saddles,  and  with  rifles  tightly 
clutched  under  our  knees  and  reins  loose  on  the  horses' 


150 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


necks,  away  we  flew  in  pursuit.  The  horses  ran  beauti- 
fully together,  the  little  gray  doing  wonders,  and  seeming 
to  know  that  it  would  be  unfortunate  for  him  to  tarry  by 
the  wayside  at  that  particular  hour. 

The  bulls  were  running  directly  from  us,  and  neither 
saw  nor  winded  us.  After  a  time  they  slackened  their 
pace,  and  then  fell  into  a  walk. 

"  See  !  See  !  They  're  going  to  feed,  I  do  believe  !  " 
cried  our  leader. 

Presently  they  began  to  sink  low  and  lower  down  from 
our  sight.  They  were  going  over  a  ridge.  ' '  Quick! 
Ride!"  the  Colonel  called  out;  and  in  a  moment  we  were 
racing  into  a  long,  low  draw  which  made  off  to  the  left. 
Here  we  straightened  up  in  the  saddles  and  rode  hard  to 
get  in  before  the  bulls  came  in  sight. 

But  they  did  not  come  in  sight.  They  were  feeding. 
Closer  and  closer  we  bore  in,  and  finally  stopped  at  the 
edge  of  the  ridge  where  they  had  disappeared.  In  a  prov- 
idential little  hollow  we  left  the  horses,  throwing  the 
bridle-reins  over  their  heads ;  and  then  we  crawled  up, 
parted  a  little  clump  of  grass,  and  one  at  a  time  took  a 
look  at  those  huge,  black,  shaggy,  grand-looking  animals. 
It  seemed  like  a  dream.  People  had  said  the  buffalo  were 
gone.  I  had  never  hoped  to  see  one  thus.  Yet  those  great 
creatures  standing  there,  lying  there,  grazing  there  — 
those  were  buffalo ;  and  yet  we  were  —  we!  The  thought 
was  preposterous.    It  could  not  be  true ! 

A  grim  smile  was  on  Colonel  Jones's  face. 

"  Five  hundred  yards,"  said  he;  "we'll  stalk  them." 
Was  the  man  mad  ?  They  could  not  be  over  one  hundred 
yards  away.  And  how  could  one  stalk  anything  on  that 
flat  floor  of  a  country,  where  you  could  see  a  man  ten 
miles  in  any  other  direction?  —  and  we  could  get  no 
closer. 

But  now  the  skill  of  the  old  buffalo-hunter  began  to 
assert  itself.  We  found  he  knew  more  in  a  minute  than 
we  did  in  all  the  rest  of  the  year.    We  made  a  big  circle 


STALKING  THE  BUFFALOES 


151 


back  and  away  from  our  horses,  and  got  the  wind  to  suit 
us ;  crawled  over  a  ridge  into  another  draw  we  had  not 
seen ;  followed  it  up  half  a  mile ;  squirmed  over  another 
ridge ;  worked  this  way  and  that,  lying  flat  out  much  of 
the  time,  and  growing  fearfully  warm  in  the  hot  sun  ;  and 
finally,  after  three-quarters  of  an  hour  of  hard  work,  we 
found  we  were  some  two  or  three  hundred  yards  nearer 
the  game. 

Then,  with  all  possible  care,  we  laid  ourselves  flat  along 
the  earth,  and  inch  by  inch  crept  up  to  the  edge  of  the 
shallow  little  basin  in  which  the  bulls  were  standing. 
Long  before  this  we  had  pushed  the  cartridges  into  the 
barrels  of  the  repeaters,  dreading  the  rattle  of  the  levers 
if  we  should  load  close  to  the  game;  now,  fearing  even 
the  tick  of  the  lock,  we  pushed  our  guns  ahead  of  us  as  we 
crawled.  Inch  by  inch,  through  five  long  minutes,  we 
worked  for  the  clump  of  sagebrush  where  we  must  stop. 
We  reached  it.  "  Breathe  a  little,"  softly  whispered  our 
leader.  We  breathed  a  little  —  mighty  little,  I  did.  It 
was  very  warm.  Not  a  man  of  us  appeared  excited,  how- 
ever, and  we  coolly  arranged  the  plan  of  the  attack. 

"  Both  of  you  fire  at  the  big  bull  on  the  right,"  whis- 
pered Colonel  Jones,  "  and  I  '11  kill  the  one  standing  on 
the  left." 

Ricker  and  I  whispered  an  objection.  We  did  not  wish 
to  shoot  at  the  same  bull.  We  wanted  to  get  a  head 
apiece,  and  each  be  sure  he  had  killed  his  own. 

"  But  don't  you  see,"  was  the  reply,  "  that  only  two  are 
standing  right?  I'll  give  one  of  you  the  head  I  kill. 
You  go  ahead;  it  '11  take  both  of  you  to  kill  your  bull  — 
and  then  you  won't  get  him  !  " 

We  demurred;  but  what  he  said  was  true.  One  bull 
was  lying  down  and  the  fourth  was  standing  with  his  head 
square  away  from  us.  A  moment  later,  the  two  big  bulls 
advanced  directly  toward  us.  They  were  grand-looking 
fellows,  but  how  ferocious  they  looked,  with  their  great 
heads  all  covered  with  shaggy  mane  !  Slowly  they  swung 
round;  they  stood  right. 


152 


FORTY  YEARS    OF  ADVENTURES 


"  Whist!  "  hissed  out  our  leader.  Then,  according  to 
the  agreement,  Ricker  felt  for  his  aim,  and  Mr.  Jones  be- 
gan to  count.  "  One."  I  was  dead  on  the  bull's  lungs. 
"  Two."  My  elbow  trembled.  We  were  all  lying  flat  on 
our  stomachs.  Oh,  horrors!  I  had  swung  clear  off,  and 
it  was  time  for  "  Three."  Bang!  went  Ricker's  shot. 
The  bulls  wheeled.  I  caught  hair  on  my  ivory  front  sight 
at  the  instant,  and  bang !  went  mine.  Bang!  came  Colo- 
nel Jones's,  very  late.  On  one  knee,  now,  each  of  us 
turned  down  the  lever  as  fast  as  he  could  catch  sight,  and 
spilt  a  pile  of  empty  45  shells  in  front  of  him.  Our  bull 
was  acting  groggy.  A  second  bull  pulled  his  left  hind  leg 
heavily.  The  elevations  grew,  climbed.  Some  of  the 
shots  cut  dust,  and  some  did  not.  The  bulls  were  get- 
ting away  in  spite  of  us.  The  shots  grew  less  frequent. 
Colonel  Jones  explained  how,  at  his  first  shot,  the  lever 
of  his  gun  had  been  prevented  from  driving  up  the  safety- 
bolt  by  sand  getting  into  the  little  groove,  and  when  he 
pulled  the  trigger  the  bolt  held  it  and  the  hammer  did 
not  fall.  The  bulls  were  still  going.  But  see!  —  one  is 
getting  sick.  He  is  reeling.  They  pass  a  little  ridge. 
They  appear  beyond.    There  are  only  three ! 

But  what  is  that  dust-cloud  here  at  the  right,  full  of 
running  figures  strung  out  in  line  ?  Our  leader  springs  to 
his  feet.    "  The  herd!  The  herd!  "  he  cries. 

And  now  we  were  in  the  midst  of  one  of  those  intensely 
animated  scenes  which  come  but  once  in  a  lifetime. 
There  at  the  left  ran  the  three  bulls :  four,  less  one. 
At  the  right,  fifty  cows  and  calves  were  in  plain  sight. 
Behind  us  —  thank  Fortune!  Mr.  Rude  understood  his 
business  —  there  came  sweeping  up  on  the  full  run  the 
horses  and  wagon,  Mr.  Rude  leading  the  three  running- 
horses,  which  they  had  wisely  picked  up  when  they  heard 
us  shoot.  A  moment  later,  the  calf-hunt  was  on,  and 
Ricker  and  I  were  alone  on  the  prairie,  watching  three 
fleeting  clouds  of  dust,  and  wishing  we  had  another  horse 
besides  the  gray.  Then  we  started  out  to  find  the  fallen 
bull. 


THE  WOUNDED  BULL 


153 


At  last,  riding  over  a  ridge  into  a  little  draw,  I  came 
right  upon  him.  He  was  down  on  his  knees  when  I  first 
saw  him,  and  when  he  saw  me  made  a  frantic  effort  to 
get  up.  I  never  saw  anything  look  quite  so  wicked;  his 
hair  was  turned  forward  over  his  face,  and  his  eyes  fairly 
blazed.  The  gray  horse  was  scared  fairly  silly, —  and  I 
was  in  sympathy  with  the  horse.  I  could  not  at  first  get 
him  in  very  close,  so  that,  what  with  his  dancing  and  my 
own  eagerness,  I  missed  that  whole,  entire  buffalo  four 
times  with  my  revolver  as  I  circled  around  him.  Then  I 
reloaded  in  a  hurry,  and  as  I  passed  in  front  of  him  man- 
aged to  put  a  bullet  square  in  his  right  eye.  At  this  the 
great  animal  sunk  down  lower  and  lower,  and  then  rolled 
over  quite  dead  —  I  in  the  meantime  putting  three  other 
balls  into  him. 

Ricker  was  back  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  and  I  rode 
to  him,  and,  as  he  avers,  yelling  like  an  Indian.  We  then 
together  approached  the  fallen  monarch,  and  for  some 
moments  stood  regarding  the  vast  proportions  of  the  life- 
less body.  It  was  a  huge  beast,  as  large,  apparently,  as 
two  domestic  oxen,  and  lay  a  black  island  on  the  sur- 
rounding sea  of  gray.  Ragged  and  rugged  and  weather- 
beaten,  with  every  line  of  its  frame  suggesting  burly 
strength,  it  was  almost  pitiful  to  see  the  helpless  back- 
ward cast  of  the  great  head,  and  to  mark  the  rapid 
glazing  of  the  eye  which  a  moment  before  rolled  in  a 
tameless  rage. 

We  had  no  idea  how  the  calf-hunters  were  faring ;  we 
didn't  worry  much  about  it.  We  cared  less  for  "the 
ninety  and  nine  "  cows  and  calves  that  got  away  than  for 
the  one  old  bull  that  went  not  astray.  We  got  the  best 
supper  the  mess-box  afforded,  and  sat  late  into  the  night, 
after  we  had  fed  the  calves  and  hobbled  out  our  animals, 
going  over  the  story  of  our  first  bull,  and  telling  how 
Colonel  Jones  offered  us  the  head  of  the  bull  he  was  "  go- 
ing to  kill." 

We  did  not  expect  the  calf-hunters  back  until  the  fol- 


154 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


lowing  day,  and  therefore  did  not  keep  up  any  fire,  but 
along  toward  midnight  rolled  ourselves  up  and  went  to 
sleep.  Not  long  thereafter,  one  of  us  awoke,  drowsily 
asking,  "  Who  was  that  shot?"  One  of  our  party  re- 
sponded, "Indians!"  We  all  roused  up,  and  listened. 
Another  shot  was  heard,  faint  in  the  distance.  The  night 
was  black  as  Erebus.  We  fired  several  shots  ourselves, 
and  waited.  Presently  there  came  a  long-drawn  "Hal- 
loa!" We  shouted  in  response.  "  Some  fellows  lost  out 
on  the  flats,"  we  said.  By-and-by  came  the  rattle  of 
wheels  in  the  dark,  coming  down  the  canon. 

"Get  up  there,  you  lazy  fellows,  and  get  some  supper," 
called  out  a  voice. 

Our  nightly  visitors  proved  to  be  our  own  party,  who 
by  dint  of  hard  driving  —  and,  I  shall  always  think,  of 
sheer  luck  rather  than  skill  —  had  managed  in  some  man- 
ner to  find  their  way  back  through  the  hills  and  ravines 
that  lay  along  south  of  the  Beaver,  and  had  followed 
down  it  to  the  camp.  What  a  feat  this  driving  in  the 
dark  across  the  trackless  plains  is,  I  will  leave  for  the 
innocent  who  has  tried  it  to  explain.  It  is  a  risky  busi- 
ness in  that  country,  where  to  lose  the  water  is  almost 
certain  death. 

The  party  proudly  showed  us  three  more  buffalo  calves 
curled  up  in  the  bottom  of  the  wagon ;  and  these  it  was 
our  first  care  to  properly  attend.  After  that,  around  the 
late  supper,  we  listened  to  the  story  of  the  hunt,  and 
heard  how  the  buffaloes  had  led  a  long,  long  chase ;  how 
Colonel  Jones  and  Ez.  had  fairly  divided  the  honors;  how 
another  buffalo  cow,  in  a  desperate  fight  to  save  her  off- 
spring, had  been  sacrificed  to  save  human  life;  how  the 
close  of  the  chase  had  found  the  party  miles  and  miles 
from  the  camp,  without  water,  with  the  horses  badly  fa- 
tigued, and  with  the  choice  of  a  dry,  hungry  camp  on  the 
Plains,  or  a  long  and  risky  drive  at  night.  We  heard  all 
these  things,  told  in  a  conversation  much  broken  by  con- 
stant interruption  of  fried  antelope  and  coffee ;  then  took 


OFF  FOR  THE  LAST  HUNT 


155 


a  last  look  at  our  long  string  of  captives,  and  retired  to 
snooze  away  the  few  remaining  hours  of  darkness  in  a 
blissful  consciousness  of  well-earned  repose. 

Bright  and  early  next  morning  Colonel  Jones  "  piped 
all  hands  on  deck,"  and  after  a  short  consultation  an- 
nounced his  determination  of  making  a  big  trip  south  to 
the  Coldwater  (Arfrio),  in  hopes  of  finding  the  main 
herd,  and  intending  to  drive  fast  and  far  until  that  was 
accomplished.  In  accordance  with  this  resolve,  the  light 
wagon  was  at  once  gotten  out,  a  full  camp  outfit,  includ- 
ing our  only  water-cask,  was  stowed  in  it,  and  Colonel 
Jones,  Ez.  and  Charley  started  out  on  what  it  was  tacitly 
agreed  would  be  the  last  hunt.  The  horses  were  looking 
fearfully  worn,  and  we  disliked  to  see  them  go.  If  we 
had  known  what  a  terrible  experience  they  were  yet  to  en- 
dure, they  would  not  have  gone  at  all.  Ricker  and  I  did 
not  join  this  expedition,  partly  because  there  was  load 
enough  without  us,  and  partly  because  we  thought  our 
chances  for  a  shot  at  a  bull  better  if  we  stayed  at  the  wa- 
ter where  we  were. 

The  next  day  I  wanciered  down  the  stream,  prospecting. 
On  my  return,  late  in  the  afternoon,  I  saw  the  Tepee  Rock, 
and  soon  after,  the  white  tents  of  our  camp.  The  gray 
broke  into  a  gallop,  and  swung  up  the  valley  at  a  great 
rate,  so  that  in  a  little  while  I  could  distinguish  objects 
about  the  camp.  The  first  thing  I  saw  was  a  form  in  the 
door  of  the  tent,  leveling  a  glass  at  me.  It  was  Ricker. 
He  began  to  wave  his  hat,  and  make  some  motions  which 
I  thought  meant  "  hurry  up."  I  did  so.  Then  he  was 
joined  by  Robinson,  and  there  ensued  one  of  the  funniest, 
and  at  the  same  time  most  ridiculous,  incidents  of  the 
whole  hunt.  Those  two  boys  waved  their  hats,  waved  the 
hand-towel,  got  down  on  their  knees,  lay  down  on  their 
stomachs,  crawled  out  to  one  side  of  the  tent  on  their 
bellies,  and  made  such  a  series  of  insane  antics  that  I  was 
entirely  bewildered.  They  were  so  extravagant,  I  sup- 
posed they  were  only  guying  me  for  having  lost  my  din- 


156 


FORTY  YEARS    OF  ADVENTURES 


ner.  As  I  came  nearer,  they  said  nothing.  I  became  a 
little  nettled,  and  thought  they  were  a  little  too  foolish 
even  for  crazy  men.  Therefore,  I  folded  my  arms  and 
galloped  on,  whistling  composedly,  and  intending  to  tell 
them  I  thought  they  were  a  pair  of  fools.  As  I  came  up 
they  grew  perfectly  frantic.  At  last,  when  within  fifty 
yards  of  the  tent,  Ricker  gasped  out,  "  Buffalo!  " 

I  whirled  my  head,  and  glanced  along  the  opposite  side 
of  the  river-bed.  There,  above  a  little  ridge,  showed  a 
dozen  black  humps.  I  was  off  the  horse  in  an  instant. 
The  herd  had  come  right  into  our  camp ! 

"  Come  into  the  tent  !  "  whispered  the  boys.  I  cut  the 
straps  which  held  my  rifle  in  place  at  the  saddle,  and  for- 
got to  tie  my  horse.  I  started  to  crawl  across  the  inter- 
vening space,  every  inch  of  which  brought  me  more  clearly 
into  the  view  of  the  buffaloes,  which  I  could  now  see  quite 
clearly  some  five  or  six  hundred  yards  distant.  Alas  ! 
before  I  could  reach  the  tent,  they  saw  me,  and  away  they 
went. 

When  I  got  into  the  tent,  the  boys  only  hesitated  about 
killing  me  because  I  was  not  good  enough  to  die.  I  tried 
to  explain,  but  they  said  that  was  needless;  that  I  was  a 
large-sized  idiot.  I  remarked  that  that  wasn't  a  starter 
to  what  they  both  were;  and  on  the  whole  there  was  a 
prospect  of  gore.  But  just  then  one  of  us  took  a  look 
through  a  hole  in  the  tent.  There  was  the  herd  standing 
on  the  hillside.    They  had  not  run  a  quarter  of  a  mile. 

The  boys  told  me  that  they  had  been  watching  the  buf- 
faloes for  over  an  hour,  waiting  for  them  to  come  down 
close  enough  to  shoot.  The  old  bulls  had  gone  down  into 
the  creek-bed,  where  it  was  dry,  and  had  wallowed  there 
for  sometime,  one  always  standing  guard  while  the  others 
wallowed,  and  taking  his  turn  when  another  came  out  to 
relieve  him.  None  of  the  herd  had  yet  watered.  The 
glass  revealed  their  number  to  be  thirty  cows  and  calves ; 
there  were  nine  bulls,  and  they  kept  in  a  little  bunch  by 
themselves.  They  did  not  run  so  far  as  the  cows,  and  we 
could  see  them  plainly,  lower  down  the  hill. 


BUFFALOES  IN  CAMP 


157 


It  was  a  strange  and  almost  unparalleled  circumstance. 
There  stood  those  hunted  and  proverbially  wary  creatures 
which  we  had  found  so  hard  to  approach,  within  full  view 
of  our  flapping  tents,  looking  at  them  with  no  apparent 
suspicion  of  their  real  occupancy.  I  wonder  what  they 
wondered  ?  I  wonder  if  they  trembled  with  any  vague 
and  undefined  fear  as  they  stood  there,  trying  in  vain  to 
get  some  knowledge  out  of  the  stubborn  and  contrary 
wind  ? 

We  watched  the  herd  through  the  glass  for  half  an  hour. 
Some  of  the  cows  began  to  lie  down.  They  could  not  be 
very  much  frightened.  The  remainder  of  the  herd  began 
to  walk  down  toward  the  water.  Appetite  was  prevailing 
over  instinct.    They  were  coming  in  ! 

The  boys  said  they  would  forgive  me  if  we  got  a  shot. 
I  hoped  we  might.    It  looked  as  if  we  would. 

The  nine  bulls  left  the  hillside,  and  moved  down.  A 
moment  later  they  were  out  of  sight  in  a  little  draw.  In 
that  moment  we  made  a  rush  for  the  other  tent,  and  got 
there  successfully,  sixty  yards  nearer  the  water. 

With  nervous  hands  we  ripped  slits  in  the  side  of  the 
Colonel's  tent,  and  thrust  out  our  rifle-barrels,  changing 
from  one  spot  to  another,  making  holes  as  often  as  we  de- 
sired to  change,  in  the  attempt  to  find  a  place  where  the 
swaying  tent  should  still  conceal  us,  as  by  that  time  there 
were  more  holes  than  tent ;  yet  it  did  not  disconcert  our 
-aim. 

The  heads  of  the  bulls  showed  over  the  ridge  —  nine  big 
black  fronts,  one  after  aitother,  all  strung  out.  All  nine 
came  over  the  crest,  sniffed  the  air,  and  came  down  on  a 
gallop.  The  little  buffalo  calf,  with  its  long  rope  tied  to 
its  neck,  was  playing  about  its  old  red  mother,  a  little 
below  the  water.  The  bulls  came  nearer  yet ;  took  fright, 
and  ran  back  a  few  yards;  wheeled,  and  came  on  again, — 
this  time,  we  could  see,  straight  to  a  point  within  gun- 
range. 

"  My  eyes!"  shivered  Robinson,  "  they  're  big  as  meet- 


158 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


ing-houses  I"  They  did  look  so.  There  was  one  monster, 
and  four  were  big  ones ;  the  others  were  smaller.  They 
came  down  to  the  bank  of  the  stream  and  turned  fair  to 
our  aim.  We  decided  they  were  less  than  two  hundred 
yards  away.  We  took  our  places  in  the  door  of  the  tent, 
shielding  ourselves  as  well  as  we  could  with  the  flaps,  and 
coolly  arranged  our  plan.  We  were  to  shoot  from  the 
two-hundred-yard  notch  of  our  rifle-sights,  each  taking  a 
separate  bull,  and  no  one  to  fire  until  all  were  ready. 
Ricker  was  to  count,  and  all  were  to  fire  at  the  instant  he 
said  "  Three." 

The  nine  old  bulls  stood  gazing  with  wide-open  solemn 
eyes  at  the  white  apparition,  whose  fluttering  wings  held 
they  knew  not  what  of  fate  for  them.  Their  great  beards 
swept  out  sideways  in  the  keen  slant  of  the  wind.  They 
were  motionless.  They  were  ghostly.  It  was  a  singular 
and  almost  oppressive  scene.  They  seemed  like  phantom 
animals  from  the  world  of  a  departed  race,  come  back 
to  menace  or  to  warn  us.  Never  in  my  life  shall  I  forget 
that  moment,  for  I  never  saw  a  more  vivid  one.  When 
I  am  old,  and  close  my  eyes,  I  shall  see  at  will  those 
great,  ghostly,  solemn  animals,  standing  with  beards 
asweep  and  eyes  full  of  wondering  reproach. 

A  moment  of  intense  and  silent  inaction  passed.  We 
were  ready. 

"One!"  "Two!"  tolled  out  Ricker's  count.  Then 
at  the  other  pendulum-beat  the  three  repeaters  spoke 
"Three!  " 

And  what  was  this?  Dust  at  my  own  rifle-shot,  a  foot 
over  the  back  of  my  bull !  And  nothing  stops  for  the 
other  boys!    The  whole  nine  are  off  —  oh,  misery! 

Fairly  gnashing  our  teeth,  we  all  sprang  from  the  tent 
and  opened  on  the  flying  herd  as  they  ran.  Their  course 
was  right  up  the  bed  of  the  stream,  and  they  ran  at  right 
angles  to  us  for  fifty  yards.  Bang  !  bang  !  bang  !  rang 
the  repeaters.  Every  shot  flew  high.  Those  which  did 
not,  cut  dirt  on  the  bank  beyond,  or  struck  the  bulls  in  the 


CALF-HUNTERS  RETURN  TO  CAMP 


159 


humps,  where  they  had  no  visible  effect  whatever.  When 
they  started  to  run,  I  threw  up  the  leaf  of  my  sight,  and 
so  did  Ricker,  we  both  thinking  they  would  run  away  from 
us ;  but  as  they  kept  right  along  by,  I  knocked  down  my 
sight,  and  just  as  they  turned  around  the  corner  of  a  little 
knoll  and  made  off  to  the  left,  I  got  down  low  enough  and 
sent  a  bullet  with  a  vicious  "  phut  !  "  slap  into  the  hip  of 
the  smallest  bull  in  the  bunch.  He  strung  out  behind 
after  that,  and  was  one  of  the  missing  later  on. 

Again  we  half  fancied  we  could  see  the  dumb  protest  in 
the  half-savage,  half-wondering  eyes. 

Slowly  the  night  came  down.  Slowly,  out  there  in  the 
west,  those  huge  figures  shrouded  up  in  the  veil-fold  of 
the  on-sweeping  darkness.  Slowly,  one  by  one,  —  sul- 
lenly, with  breaking  hearts,  perhaps,  for  the  white  men 
were  around  them  on  every  side, —  they  turned  toward  the 
setting  sun ;  toward  the  little,  narrow  west  which  re- 
mained to  them.  And  that,  for  us,  was  the  last  of  the 
buffalo. 

A  world  of  incident  was  crowded  into  our  short  trip ; 
but  in  attempting  even  a  broken  account  of  it,  it  must 
needs  be  brief. 

On  the  evening  of  our  rencontre  with  the  nine  bulls,  we 
had  not  time  to  follow  and  secure  the  fallen  ones  before 
an  event  happened  which  put  an  end  to  hunting  that  day, 
and  which  foreshadowed  the  close  of  the  entire  hunt. 
We  were  looking  up  the  valley,  when  our  attention  was 
attracted  by  a  distant  pistol-shot  and  a  faint  halloa ;  and 
presently  we  discerned  a  horseman  coming  slowly  down 
toward  camp.  We  soon  made  it  out  to  be  Carter.  He 
was  riding  the  bay  mare  Jennie,  and  his  gait  was  very 
slow.  Presently  he  dismounted,  and  came  leading  her 
into  camp. 

We  saw  at  once  what  was  the  trouble.  Both  horse  and 
man  were  nearly  dead  from  thirst  and  exhaustion.  Car- 
ter threw  himself  on  the  ground,  with  a  despairing  ges- 
ture toward  the  mare.    His  first  words,  after  he  had 


160 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


drained  a  canteen  of  water,  were,  "I  guess  she  's  sure 
gone !  " 

The  poor  creature  looked  it,  truly.  She  stood  with 
head  down  and  legs  wide  apart,  wet  with  sweat,  and 
trembling  like  a  leaf.  In  her  misery  at  trying  to 
breathe,  she  blundered  and  stumbled  about  the  camp, 
and  we  soon  found  she  was  quite  blind,  or  could  see  only 
imperfectly.  A  moment  later  she  attempted  to  lie  down, 
but  we  caught  her  and  held  her  up,  a  dead  weight  be- 
tween us.  Then  we  poured  a  straight  pint  of  raw  whisky 
into  a  pail.  Before  we  could  dilute  it  with  water,  the 
mare  felt  the  rim  of  the  pail,  and  at  once  drank  its  con- 
tents at  a  gulp.  Whether  the  Kentucky  mare  recognized 
the  Kentucky  product  or  not,  I  do  not  know;  but  she 
drank  that  whisky  "  straight."  And  it  was  the  best 
thing  she  could  have  done.  She  did  not  get  down  at  all 
after  that;  and  in  a  little  while  we  gave  her  a  quart  or  so 
of  water,  then  half  a  pailful ;  and  after  blanketing  and 
rubbing  down  her  legs,  she  began  to  prick  up  her  ears 
and  whinny  a  little.  Then  we  knew  she  would  pull 
through;  and  we  held  a  general  jubilee,  hugging  the 
game  old  animal  and  calling  her  all  sorts  of  pet  names. 

"That  mare  's  sure  clear  grit,"  said  Carter.  "She  's 
gone  over  a  hundred  miles  to-day,  and  has  n't  had  a  drop 
of  water.  I  've  made  three  big  runs  on  her,  and  caught 
five  calves  without  uncinching  the  saddle." 

While  Carter  was  swallowing  his  supper,  we  learned 
from  him  the  story  of  the  calf -hunt.  The  drive  from 
the  main  camp  south,  he  said,  had  been  a  very  long  and 
rapid  one,  and  as  near  as  they  could  tell,  far  beyond  the 
Coldwater,  when  just  before  sundown  they  came  in  sight 
of  the  largest  herd  of  buffalo  which  had  yet  been  found  — 
probably  seventy-five  or  one  hundred  in  number.  It  was 
too  late  to  make  a  run  that  night,  so  camp  was  made  in 
the  breaks,  within  a  mile  and  a  half  of  the  herd.  In  the 
morning,  before  sunrise,  camp  was  broken,  and  after  di- 
viding up  what  little  water  there  was  left  —  the  horses 


PLENTY  OF  CALVES,  BUT  NO  WATER 


161 


getting  only  a  very  little  —  the  approach  on  the  herd  was 
begun,  and  the  first  run  was  made  early  in  the  morning. 
Two  calves  were  the  result  of  this  run,  one  each  for  Colo- 
nel Jones  and  Carter.  The  herd  did  not  make  for  any 
stream,  but  ran  out  into  an  undiscovered  country  of 
limitless  extent.  The  second  run  was  made  late  in  the 
morning.  The  day  proved  to  be  terribly  hot.  Three 
calves  were  caught  by  Carter;  but  the  horses  were  al- 
most exhausted.  Colonel  Jones  got  so  far  away  from  the 
party,  or  the  party  from  him,  that  for  a  time  it  looked  as 
if  he  would  have  to  leave  his  exhausted  horse  and  try  the 
fifty  or  sixty  miles  to  water  on  foot.  However,  he  found 
the  trail,  and,  by  walking,  drove  his  horse  for  a  time  (as 
he  was  so  near  gone  he  would  not  lead),  and  managed  to 
keep  it  up  until  he  sighted  the  wagon  and  signaled  for  it 
to  come  up.  The  whole  outfit  was  nearly  "  done  up," 
and  it  looked  a  question  whether  they  would  all  ever  get 
into  camp. 

It  was  well  for  the  party  that  they  knew  the  country 
into  which  they  came.  Colonel  Jones  recognized  a  cer- 
tain table-rock,  and  knew  that  camp  lay  far  below  them. 
Had  they  not  been  familiar  with  that  part  of  the  country, 
and  had  therefore  gone  up  the  stream  instead  of  down, 
they  would  have  lost  all  their  stock,  and  would  probably 
have  perished  themselves.  It  cannot  be  emphasized  too 
much,  that  hunting  in  that  country  —  in  the  spring  of 
1887,  at  least  —  was  a  matter  which  "tenderfeet"  and 
"  grangers"  would  very  much  better  let  alone.  A  party 
going  down  on  that  range  would  be  foolish  to  start  with- 
out a  thoroughly  posted  guide.  They  would  get  no  game, 
and  would  stand  a  large  chance  of  dying  of  thirst. 

When  they  came  to  the  Canadian  (or  Beaver),  the  teams 
were  nearly  ready  to  drop,  and  it  was  evident  that  fresh 
horses  must  be  had.  The  black  runner  could  hardly  move, 
and  even  the  tough  mule  team  was  "  done  up."  Two  of 
the  buffalo  calves  Jiad  died  of  the  intense  heat  —  which  is 
not  strange;  for  in  that  little  spring  wagon  there  were 
-11 


162 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


crowded  three  men,  all  their  camp  equipage,  a  water-cask, 
and  seven  kicking  young  buffaloes. 

Carter  had  therefore  come  down  to  get  a  fresh  team, 
and  take  back  such  water  as  he  could.  Poor  fellow  !  —  he 
looked  weary  enough  himself ;  but  he  did  not  tarry,  and 
after  his  hasty  supper  started  back  with  the  spare  team, 
carrying  as  much  water  and  whisky  as  he  could  sling 
about  him  in  canteens. 

We  built  a  beacon-fire  near  by  the  Tepee  Rock  that 
night,  and  prepared  supper,  that  it  might  be  ready  for 
the  late  comers.  About  midnight  we  heard  their  rifle- 
shots, and  could  presently  see  the  flashes  as  they  fired.  We 
answered,  and  built  up  our  fire;  and  presently  the  party 
rode  silently  into  camp.  They  were  successful ;  but  the 
best  part  of  their  success  was  that  they  got  in  alive.  The 
black  running-horse  was  left  for  dead,  ten  miles  back  on 
the  trail. 

The  next  morning  Colonel  Jones  suddenly  displayed  a 
certain  trait  in  his  character  which  did  much  on  more 
than  one  occasion  to  rob  us  of  pleasures  the  trip  might 
otherwise  have  done.  He  got  in  a  hurry,  and  abruptly 
announced  his  intention  of  starting  for  home.  Of  course 
it  was  not  for  my  companion  or  myself  to  murmur  at  his 
wish  in  the  matter,  since  it  was  pure  kindness  on  his  part 
to  take  us  along  on  the  trip;  but  we  did  so  wish,  now 
that  we  had  fairly  gotten  the  situation  of  the  buffaloes, 
to  stay  and  rest  a  few  days,  and  get  another  bull  or  two, 
before  we  started  in.  We  knew  it  was  our  last  chance. 
However,  we  tried  to  be  resigned,  and  recorded  no  protest 
except  that  written  here.  In  these  columns  we  wish 
squarely  to  reprimand  the  man  who  would  do  so  cruel  an 
act  as  to  take  us  two  fellows  away  from  the  buffaloes, 
just  when  we  had  fairly  found  them.  We  did  not  even 
have  time  to  go  out  and  look  for  the  two  bulls  which  we 
supposed  we  had  killed,  although  Carter  had  seen  the 
bunch  of  bulls  with  only  seven  in  it,  as  he  came  down 
the  night  before,  thereby  corroborating  our  count. 


RETURNING  HOME 


163 


We  left  the  boys  to  look  up  the  dead  and  wounded,  to 
attend  to  the  wearied  stock,  and  bring  into  the  settle- 
ments the  captive  calves,  with  all  the  retinue  of  the  great 
main  camp.  We  quickly  prepared  the  light  wagon  for 
the  trip,  and  hitched  in  the  large  bay  horse  and  the  lucky, 
plucky  little  balking  gray,  who  now  balked  no  more,  but 
was  grown  into  high  esteem  about  the  camp.  Of  course, 
Jennie  could  not  travel.  She  and  all  the  rest  of  the 
horses  were  to  be  allowed  several  days'  rest  before  they 
were  started  for  the  settlements.  The  nervy  mare  had 
"  picked  up"  a  great  deal  by  morning,  and  appeared  to 
be  coming  out  all  right.  We  were  glad  to  see  that  she 
was  not  going  to  lose  her  eyesight,  but  had  been  only 
temporarily  blind  and  dizzy.  We  were  glad  also  for  an- 
other thing :  Colonel  Jones  went  out  early  in  the  morn- 
ing, after  a  very  scanty  allowance  of  sleep,  and  found  the 
abandoned  black  horse  on  his  feet  and  struggling  to  get 
down  to  the  water.  Whisky  and  water  revived  him 
enough  to  get  him  into  camp,  and  his  "  naturally  strong 
constitution,"  as  the  doctors  say,  brought  him  through 
all  right  eventually. 

Colonel  Jones,  my  companion  and  I  started  early,  tak- 
ing with  us  only  a  very  light  camping-outfit,  some  jerked 
buffalo  meat,  and  coffee.  We  found  our  team  could  do 
better  than  expected,  and  we  made  a  long  drive  the  first 
day. 

By  this  system  of  driving  day  and  night, —  which  I 
never  could  see  how  the  horses  stood  up  under, —  we  held 
on  our  way  steadily,  and  almost  before  we  knew  it  were  at 
the  railroad,  and  at  home  in  Garden  City.  Once  we  drove 
close  to  100  miles  in  24  hours. 

Then  followed  the  queries  and  congratulations.  Our 
hunt  was  over.  It  had  been  a  most  fortunate  one,  all 
considered.  Had  it  not  been  so  well  planned  and  so  well 
pushed,  it  might  have  been  called  an  unlucky  one.  Cer- 
tainly, there  was  good  luck  in  it. 

A  week  and  a  half  after  our  arrival  the  boys  arrived 


164 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


with  the  main  outfit,  bringing  in  the  bull-  and  antelope- 
heads,  and  the  skins  of  various  kinds  which  we  had  col- 
lected. Of  course,  we  inquired  anxiously  about  the  calves. 
To  our  sorrow,  only  seven  out  of  the  fourteen  captured  had 
been  brought  in  alive.  Some  had  died  of  stubbornness  or 
sickness;  one  had  gotten  away  in  the  night;  and  yet  an- 
other had  fallen  victim  to  a  certain  brilliant  experiment 
devised  by  the  boys  to  make  a  buffalo  calf  follow  a  do- 
mestic cow.  The  experiment  consisted  in  tying  the  calf 
to  the  cow's  tail.  The  calf  followed.  But  unfortunately 
its  neck  was  broken  before  they  could  lasso  the  cow.  At 
this,  the  boys  did  not  finish  tying  up  the  other  calves  in 
like  manner,  but  just  herded  them  along  as  before.  It 
was  harder  work,  but  the  net  results  in  live  buffalo  calves 
seemed  to  warrant  them  in  it.  Nothing  more  need  be 
said  for  Colonel  Jones  than  to  remark  that  he  never  rep- 
rimanded the  boys  once  for  the  slimness  of  their  returns. 
He  only  said,  "  I  wish  they  had  brought  in  eight  or  ten, 
at  least." 

To-day,  in  the  pasture  at  the  edge  of  Garden  City, 
Colonel  Jones  has  eleven  buffalo  calves.  Four  of  these 
are  yearlings,  fat  as  seals,  shaggy  as  sheep,  and  so  tame 
that  you  can  almost  touch  them.  The  other  seven  are 
the  calves  of  this  year's  hunt.  They  are  lively  as  crick- 
ets, and  run  bawling  after  their  foster-mothers  like  any 
other  calves.  The  "  old  red  stripper"  supports  two,  and 
watches  them  with  the  most  motherly  pride.  They  run 
loose  with  a  small  herd  of  blooded  domestic  cattle.  It 
is  the  intention,  as  was  previously  stated,  to  raise  a  herd 
of  buffaloes,  and  also  to  experiment  with  hybridization. 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  no  accidents  will  thin  this  little 
band,  survivors  of  a  doomed  race,  and  procured  at  so 
great  peril,  hardship,  and  expense.  It  is  of  course  true 
that  the  American  people  will  watch  with  the  greatest 
solicitude  a  herd  in  which  they  have  so  great  an  interest. 
To-day,  too,  in  the  same  pasture,  "Jennie  "and  "  Blackie  " 
take  their  ease  among  the  calves  they  helped  to  catch ; 


LOOKING  BACKWARD 


165 


now  and  then  privately  indulging  in  a  run  after  a  calf, 
just  to  keep  up  the  memory  of  their  hunt, —  which  will 
be  their  last  indeed,  in  all  probability.  The  gray  horse  — 
now  posing  as  a  reformed  balker — pensively  chews  buf- 
falo-grass out  on  the  claim  of  the  dark-eyed  damsel  who 
gave  us  our  immortal  lunch  on  the  day  we  started  out. 
Colonel  Jones,  the  mules,  and  all  the  rest  of  us,  are  at 
work. 

Could  not  the  calf -hunt  be  duplicated  by  other  parties? 
Hardly ;  for  the  reason  that  men  having  sufficient  knowl- 
edge of  the  haunts  and  habits  of  the  game,  and  an  in- 
clination to  secure  it,  are  very  few;  and  of  these  few, 
fewer  yet  are  able  financially  to  organize  such  a  hunt.  It 
cost  Mr.  Jones  over  one  thousand  dollars  in  preparatory 
and  current  expenses  for  the  short  time  which  our  trip 
lasted. 

Could  not  hunters  pay  the  expenses,  and  hire  an  effi- 
cient guide?  They  could  easily  hire  a  guide.  Perhaps 
he  would  promise  everything ;  probably  he  would  secure 
nothing.  I  do  not  know  of  any  man  who  would  even 
promise  success.  The  few  who  know  the  secrets  of  that 
forbidding  land  are  anxious  to  keep  their  secrets  for  their 
own  benefit. 

Could  a  party  of  hunters  not  acquainted  with  the 
country  go  into  that  region  with  any  chance  of  success  ? 
No.  It  would  be  dangerous  to  try  it.  Water  is  too 
scarce.  The  path  of  the  hunt  might  be  a  jornada  del 
maerto  (journey  of  death)  for  a  band  of  "  tender-feet." 

Is  our  party  entitled  to  the  claim  of  having  seen  the 
last  of  the  buffalo?  Not  literally,  of  course.  But  it  is 
probable  that  we  were  the  last,  or  very  near  the  last,  civ- 
ilized hunters  to  look  upon  the  buffalo  wild  on  its  native 
range.  There  were  features  of  our  hunt  which  we  should 
not  wish  to  see  repeated;  but  on  the  whole,  we  endeav- 
ored to  act  like  civilized  hunters.  Those  will  be  only  sav- 
ages who,  for  the  sake  of  the  few  dollars  which  the  hides 
of  the  devoted,  creatures  will  bring,  will  plan  to  finish 


166 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


their  destruction.  It  was  the  skin-hunter  who  has  so 
nearly  annihilated  the  entire  race  of  these  grand  animals, 
changing  Nature's  plan  —  tearing  Nature's  page  in  this 
good  century.  It  will  not  be  the  privilege  of  the  last 
members  of  the  race  to  die  victims  of  any  noble,  if  incon- 
siderate, ambition.  It  will  be  the  cool,  calculating,  pic- 
ayunish,  fiendish  skin-hunter  who  will  make  the  last 
"  stalk."  It  will  be  his  penny-loving  eye  which  will 
catch  the  sight  against  the  last  shaggy  side.  It  will  be 
from  the  worn  grooves  of  his  rifle  that  the  last  puff  of 
smoke  will  come,  and  hang  above  a  grass-covered  wallow. 
It  will  be  his  skilled  hands  which  will  strip  off  the  last 
robe.  And  his  comment  as  he  folds  it  down  will  be, 
"I've  got  the  last!" 

Poor  fool!  He  will  not  know  —  he  has  not  brains 
enough  to  conceive  —  what  those  words  mean,  that  he 
has  indeed  killed  the  Last  of  the  Buffalo.  May  those 
solemn  eyes  in  their  last  glance  blight  and  wither  him ! 
should  be  the  verdict  of  all  true  Americans. 


CHAPTER  X 


THE  WILD  HOESE  — OTHEE  ANIMALS 

ORIGIN  OF  —  HABITAT  —  GREATEST  NUMBER  EVER  KNOWN  

SIZE,  COLOR,  STYLE,  AND  FITNESS  TO  SURROUNDINGS  THE 

STALLION  DRIVES,  NEVER  LEADS  —  GRAPHIC  DESCRIPTION 
OF    CONTEST    FOR    MASTERSHIP  —  DURING  THE    DRIVE,  TO 

KILL  THE   RULER   RESULTED   IN   FAILURE  SOME  OF  THE 

HEROES  WHO  MADE  FORTUNES  CAPTURING  THESE  ANI- 
MALS—  WHEN  FAMISHING,  NEVER  LOST   SIGHT   OF  HORSES 

UNTIL  THEY  WENT  TO  WATER  THE  WILD  HORSE'S  GREAT 

•  SPEED  AND  ENDURANCE  —  PRAIRIE-DOGS  AND  OWLS  :  NO 
SUCH  THING  AS  i  4  HAPPY  FAMILY  ' ' — RATTLESNAKES  AND 
OWLS  INTRUDERS  HELD  AT  BAY  BY  A  MONSTROUS  RAT- 
TLER 

IN  presenting  Colonel  Jones's  adventures  in  hunting 
and  capturing  the  buffalo,  to  neglect  relating  a  few 
facts  concerning  the  wild  horse  and  some  other  ani- 
mals of  the  Plains  would  be  like  the  play  of  Hamlet 
without  the  ghost. 

The  habitat  of  the  wild  horse  was  that  of  the  American 
bison,  where,  though  never  commingling  with  them  in  an 
absolute  sense,  there  were  rare  exceptions  where  a  single 
animal  might  be  discovered  in  close  proximity  to  a  herd 
of  buffalo.  I  remember  once  having  been  presented  with 
a  two-year-old  colt,  which  had  been  observed  for  more 
than  ten  months  as  the  comparatively  close  companion  of 
a  band  of  buffalo,  with  which  he  had  run  for  that  length 
of  time.  All  the  individuals  of  the  herd  seem  to  have 
been  imbued  with  that  strange  affection  which  sometimes 

(167) 


168 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


manifests  itself  among  our  domestic  animals,  many  au- 
thentic stories  relating  to  which  are  current.  The  prob- 
ability is  the  colt  was  always  smart  enough  not  to  get 
tangled  up  in  the  herd,  or  be  caught  napping;  at  least  I 
would  have  advised  such  vigilance,  had  I  been  the  in- 
structor. 

The  wolf,  that  ever-persistent,  hungry  species  of  the 
genus  Lupus,  called  by  the  old  hunters  "  loafers,"  while 
particularly  fond  of  young  colts,  also  of  horseflesh,  rarely 
takes  the  terribly  unequal  chances  of  securing  a  meal  by 
attempting  to  capture  a  wild  horse  on  the  open  prairie ; 
yet  in  the  woods  he  is  quite  the  reverse.  For  some  rea- 
son he  much  prefers  to  depend  upon  the  superannuated 
buffalo  bulls,  driven  out  of  the  herd  by  their  junior 
fellows,  for  his  rations;  yet  when  compelled  by  almost 
absolute  starvation  to  take  the  most  desperate  chances, 
he  risks  an  attack  upon  the  stately,  swift-footed  wild 
horse. 

How  long  the  present  wild  horse  has  existed  on  the 
Plains  is  difficult  to  rightly  conjecture;  for  we  know  that 
as  he  is  at  present  physiologically  constructed,  he  is  not 
identical  with  the  wild  horse  of  prehistoric  ages.  True, 
as  paleontology  proves,  there  was  a  variety  of  species  of 
the  horse  roaming  over  the  Great  Plains  thousands  of 
years  ago,  but  they,  with  other  orders  of  immense  mam- 
mals, became  extinct  in  a  remote  geologic  age.  That  was, 
as  Huxley  and  other  famous  paleontologists  have  shown, 
the  primitive  horse.  There  was  an  almost  incalculable 
hiatus  between  those  prehistoric  times  and  the  appear- 
ance of  the  present  wild  horse,  whose  existence  on  the 
Great  Plains  of  Texas,  Colorado,  Kansas  and  Nebraska  is 
limited  to  a  very  recent  day.  It  is  the  accepted  theory  by 
scientists,  that  their  origin  dates  back  to  the  wonderful 
march  of  the  Spanish  explorer,  Francisco  Vasquez  de  Cor- 
onado,  one  of  Cortez's  lieutenants,  who  with  a  small  army 
traversed  the  vast  wilderness  of  the  mid-continent  region 
of  North  America  in  1541.    In  his  itinerary,  his  historian. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  WILD  HORSE 


169 


Castenada,  relates  losing  many  horses,  which  escaped  dur- 
ing the  fearful  storms,  and  from  being  stampeded  by  the 
buffalo.  From  the  relatively  few  which  formed  the  basis 
of  all  that  have  since  occupied  the  region  pointed  out,  it 
appears  they  flourished  in  a  remarkable  degree,  for  as  late 
r,s  1875  it  was  estimated  by  those  who  were  competent 
judges,  that  no  less  than  fifty  thousand  were  roaming  at 
will  over  the  prairies  of  the  large  States  enumerated 
above. 

Colonel  Jones  devotes  some  pages  of  his  journal  to  the 
habits  of  the  wild  horse.    He  says : 

"  The  habits  and  methods  of  the  wild  horses,  their  man- 
ner of  subsisting,  and  their  remarkable  intelligence,  have 
ever  been  attractive  subjects  to  me.  Secreted  from  the 
view  of  a  large  band  unconscious  of  my  proximity,  I 
have  often  abandoned  everything  else  for  hours  in  order 
to  study  the  curious  and  graceful  picture  of  a  band  of 
horses  in  their  natural  state. 

"  They  are  of  fair  size,  weighing  in  the  neighborhood 
of  from  seven  to  ten  hundred  pounds ;  remarkably  well 
built,  their  chests  large,  wide  and  deep,  and  their  bones 
of  good  size,  indicating  great  strength.  Their  heads  are 
always  carried  high  in  the  air,  the  natural  position  of 
the  species  when  unrestrained  by  mechanical  appliances, 
and  when  moving  they  are  the  very  incarnation  of  grace 
and  symmetry.  Their  eyes  protrude  more  than  those  of  the 
domesticated  animal,  for  the  reason,  perhaps,  that  hered- 
ity has  stamped  this  feature  upon  them  by  the  necessary 
vigilance  of  their  ancestors  imposed  by  their  environ- 
ment. The  mane  is  very  long,  reaching  to  the  knees, 
and  the  tail  usually  sweeps  the  ground.  Taking  them  all 
in  all,  they  are  the  ideal  horse.  By  constant  exposure  to 
the  fitful  variations  of  climate  of  the  mid-continent  re- 
gion, entirely  dependent  upon  their  own  efforts  for  their 
subsistence,  and  frequently,  to  employ  a  Western  but 
very  expressive  phrase,  compelled  to  '  rustle '  for  their 
living,  they  have  developed  a  vitality  and  strength  of 


170 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


muscle  which  is  wonderful  to  contemplate.  Their  ex- 
tensive travels  from  place  to  place  in  search  of  fresh 
pastures,  and  their  sometimes  extended  races  under  the 
inspiration  of  absolute  liberty,  have  given  them  an  ex- 
pansion of  lungs  and  nostril  assuring  an  endurance  that 
is  phenomenal.  These  physical  attributes,  coupled  with 
an  indomitable  will,  render  their  capture  a  difficult  and 
tedious  process.  They  are  in  all  their  movements  as 
graceful  as  the  antelope,  and  I  know  of  no  more  beautiful 
scene  than  that  of  a  band  of  wild  horses  at  play.  They 
are  as  fleet  as  the  greyhound,  and  some  of  the  speediest 
horses  of  to-day  in  the  East  have  a  strain  of  their  blood 
coursing  through  their  veins. 

u  The  scientists  theoretically  claim  —  those,  I  mean, 
who  have  not  really  studied  them — that  they  must  un- 
questionably be  a  weak  race,  destitute  of  fine  points,  be- 
cause in  their  common  intermingling,  without  any  regard 
to  proper  breeding,  the  best  blood  would  soon  run  out. 
This  is  not  the  fact,  however;  nature  has  provided  a  com- 
pensating law,  by  which  their  specially  fine  characteristics 
have  been  preserved.  Strength,  nerve  and  endurance  are 
better  provided  for  under  that  freedom  from  restraint 
which  a  life  of  absolute  liberty  assures,  than  could  be 
attained  by  breeding  the  domestic  animal  handicapped 
by  the  conventionalities  of  the  confined  state  from  which 
no  breeder  can  hope  to  escape. 

"  The  wild  horse  in  his  aggregation  is  governed  by  a 
ruler,  who  in  a  band  is  as  absolute  as  the  most  arbitrary 
human  monarch ;  and  of  course  he  is  the  stallion  possess- 
ing the  greatest  strength,  pugnacity,  nerve,  and  endur- 
ance. As  with  the  buffalo,  the  contest  for  supremacy  in 
a  herd  of  wild  horses  is  desperate  and  exciting.  The 
terrible  fight  for  this  position  between  two  contending 
stallions  cannot  be  imagined,  and  language  is  hardly 
adequate  to  graphically  describe  it.  They  approach  each 
other  walking  on  their  hind  feet,  with  eyes  which  simu- 
late balls  of  molten  metal,  or  the  electric  light.  Their 


CONTEST  FOR  MASTERSHIP 


171 


great  mouths  are  already  open,  exposing  their  sharp  teeth, 
with  which  they  inflict  most  terrible  punishment,  and  in 
a  few  seconds  the  impending  shock  comes,  for  which  each 
enraged  animal  has  been  preparing  himself.  Now  their 
keenly  cutting  hoofs  are  flying  in  every  direction  over 
their  adversary's  body,  and  their  powerful  jaws  grasp 
neck,  shoulders,  or  any  portion  they  can  get  hold  of. 
They  fight  with  all  the  desperation  of  bulldogs,  throwing 
their  whole  force  against  each  other;  consequently  the 
weaker  '  goes  to  the  wall '  a  terribly  mutilated  brute. 
If  he  is  not  equal  in  strength,  or  lacks  in  endurance  to 
withstand  the  awful  shocks  of  his  adversary,  he  is  at  last 
hurled  to  the  ground, —  kicked,  stamped  on,  and  torn  by 
the  teeth  of  his  mad  antagonist ;  and  if  by  chance  he  can 
rise  again,  he  rushes  off,  glad  to  escape  with  his  bare  life. 
Unlike  the  contests  between  buffalo  bulls,  described  in  a 
previous  chapter,  wherein  no  blood  is  drawn,  those  be- 
tween the  wild  stallions  of  the  Plains  are  fraught  with 
sanguinary  results.  Wherever  their  cruel  teeth  are  fast- 
ened in  each  other's  flesh,  their  bodies  are  lacerated  in 
the  most  horrible  manner.  When  these  instruments  of 
warfare  slip  off  the  hide  where  they  have  taken  hold,  they 
snap  together,  sounding  like  the  report  of  a  firecracker. 
The  conquered  animal  in  his  retreat  exerts  every  muscle 
if  he  is  permitted  to  rise  from  the  earth  where  he  has 
been  thrown  by  his  adversary,  and  breaks  and  dashes  off 
as  fast  as  he  is  able,  pursued  for  a  mile  or  so  by  the 
latter,  who  cuts  and  bites  him  at  every  jump.  He  is  at 
last  abandoned,  and  never  again  molests  his  adversary, 
as  the  poor  disabled  1  tramp '  never  forgets  his  experience 
as  long  as  he  lives, —  unlike  the  Turk,  who  £  fights  and 
runs  away,  to  renew  the  fight  another  day.' 

"  One  of  the  most  interesting  sights  in  connection  with 
wild  horses  is  when  the  proud  high-headed  stallion,  who 
is  ruler  of  the  herd,  numbering  perhaps  all  the  way  from 
twenty  to  a  hundred,  first  discovers  the  presence  of  an  in- 
truding stallion  in  the  vicinity.    With  lofty  head,  he  liter- 


172 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


ally  '  smells  the  battle  from  afar  ' ;  his  tail  is  thrown  out 
at  an  angle  of  forty-five  degrees,  and  he  commences  to  en- 
circle his  charge,  with  his  head  lowered  to  his  knees,  nose 
turned  up  like  an  old  gander  when  angry.  This  he  re- 
peats once  or  twice,  rounding  all  the  animals  into  a  close 
bunch,  where  they  remain  until  his  return,  without  the 
least  change  of  position.  He  gathers  himself  up,  as  it 
were,  and  dashes  off  like  a  whirlwind  to  meet  the  object 
of  his  fury,  which  is  perhaps  half  a  mile  distant.  Nine 
times  out  of  ten,  however,  the  enemy  has  flown  long  be- 
fore he  arrives  at  the  spot  where  he  originally  appeared. 
Sometimes,  the  reverse  is  the  case:  he  meets  with. a  bun- 
dle of  horseflesh  all  nerve  and  muscle,  which  waits  to 
measure  strength  with  him.  Of  the  many  encounters  of 
this  character  I  have  witnessed,  only  one  has  occurred  in 
which  the  master  of  the  herd  was  compelled  to  yield  to 
the  intruding  adversary. 

"  The  general  idea  of  those  who  have  heard  of  wild 
horses  is,  that  the  master  stallion  leads  the  herd.  This  is 
not  the  case ;  he  drives  them  anywhere  he  desires  them  to 
go,  for  fear  the  mares  will  escape,  or  be  cut  out  of  the 
band  by  prowling  stallions.  The  monarch  of  the  herd 
guards  them  with  as  much  vigilance  as  a  sheriff  guards  a 
squad  of  prisoners,  or  a  shepherd  guards  his  flock  when 
wolves  are  hungry  and  desperate.  Does  anyone  suppose 
the  stallion  '  leads  '  the  herd  ?  No !  Such  an  idea  is 
nonsense,  and  the  person  who  insists  on  it  only  shows  he 
knows  not  whereof  he  speaks.  Every  individual  member 
of  the  herd  is  fully  aware  that  any  disobedience  brings  its 
chastisement,  and  offenses  of  this  character  are  rare,  for 
the  punishment  is  severe  and  sudden.  He  allows  no 
males  in  the  herd  after  they  have  attained  the  age  of  one 
year.  When  there  are  signs  of  danger  from  any  direc- 
tion, he  invariably  puts  himself  between  it  and  the  herd, 
guarding  its  interest  with  all  the  persistency  of  a  Roman 
sentinel.  When  danger  has  been  discovered,  the  mares 
flee  from  it,  but  the  stallion  stops  at  intervals,  strikes  the 


METHOD  OF  CAPTURING  WILD  HORSES 


173 


hard  dry  earth  viciously  with  his  fore  feet,  whistles  ter- 
rifically through  his  nostrils,  as  if  to  defy  all  intruders; 
then  whirls  and  dashes  after  the  fleeing  band  with  great 
rapidity.  When  they  are  overtaken,  he  whirls  around 
again  and  repeats  the  same  performance. 

"  Seldom  are  there  seen  to  exceed  a  half-dozen  stallions 
herding  together.  They  usually  are  found  alone.  Occa- 
sionally one  dashes  in  and  cuts  out  a  mate  from  one  of 
the  large  herds  (one  of  the  requirements  to  success).  He 
is  soon  overtaken,  punished,  and  the  mare  driven  by  the 
victor  with  terrific  speed  into  the  herd. 

"  The  wild  horse,  like  that  ruminant  the  buffalo,  when 
man  in  his  wantonness  commenced  the  process  of  hunt- 
ing him  regardless  of  the  deplorable  results  which  have 
obtained,  was  fated  to  annihilation,  and  the  race  is  now 
nearly  extinct.  During  the  decade  ending  with  1885, 
many  of  the  old  buffalo-hunters  turned  their  undivided 
attention  to  gathering  wild  horses,  for  which  there  was 
soon  established  a  demand,  constantly  increasing.  Their 
method  of  capturing  the  beautiful  animals  was  a  tedious 
process,  yet  very  successful,  and  attended  by  no  injury  to 
the  horses.  It  consisted  of  continually  pursuing  the  herd, 
day  after  day,  sometimes  for  weeks,  allowing  it  no  rest, 
until  at  last,  footsore,  jaded  and  worn  out,  the  subdued 
animals  could  be  easily  driven  into  a  corral  previously 
prepared  for  them.  In  building  the  corral,  the  hunter 
takes  advantage  of  the  knowledge  he  has  obtained  of  the 
wild  horse,  which  is  the  wisest  of  all  equine  creation, 
and  builds  his  fence  accordingly.  He  leaves  a  large  open- 
ing into  the  corral,  through  which  the  horses  are  to  pass 
into  the  inclosure.  Then  from  each  end  of  the  walls,  at 
this  opening,  fences  are  made  in  a  flaring  manner,  about 
a  hundred  yards  in  length,  and  from  the  end  of  each 
wing  fence  a  furrow  is  plowed  about  a  half-mile  in 
length,  in  the  flaring  manner  of  the  fence.  As  all  horse- 
hunters  know,  the  wild  horse  fears  to  cross  a  freshly 
plowed  furrow,  thinking  it  a  snare,  no  doubt.    When  the 


174 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


animals  are  so  fatigued  and  footsore  they  can  be  turned 
in  any  direction  desired,  the  hunters  guide  the  band  into 
the  large  lane  between  the  furrows,  then  give  a  yell,  and 
the  band  rushes  pell-mell  in  the  direction  of  the  corral. 
If  they  try  to  avoid  it,  they  come  to  the  furrow  and  shy 
away,  but  have  no  time  to  turn  about,  and  are  pressed 
by  shouts,  shots  and  yells  between  the  wings  of  fencing, 
where  there  is  only  one  possible  way  of  escape  from  the 
fusillade;  that  is,  in  the  rear.  Thus  they  are  rushed 
through  the  corral  opening,  and  into  captivity.  This 
corral  was  usually  made  of  logs,  stone,  or  occasionally  of 
only  sod  walls ;  and  when  once  securely  inside  of  the 
structure  the  lasso  was  brought  into  requisition,  and  the 
captured  animals  were  soon  hobbled.  They  were  then 
herded  until  quite  gentle,  when  they  were  driven  to  a 
railroad  station  and  shipped  to  some  Eastern  market, 
where  they  were  readily  disposed  of. 

"  The  monarch  of  the  herd  was  an  indispensable  ad- 
junct in  the  drives  before  the  corral  was  reached,  for  it 
was  through  his  efforts  and  exaction  of  discipline  that 
the  herd  were  kept  together,  until  they  were  so  weary  and 
footsore  the  hunter  could  easily  turn  them  in  any  direction 
he  desired.  Often  the  stallion  would  become  desperate 
and  charge  upon  the  hunters,  who  were  compelled  to  flee 
from  his  awful  wrath,  or  shoot  him,  to  escape  death.  If 
the  latter  became  necessary,  it  of  course  ended  that  drive, 
—  for  the  band,  having  lost  its  controller,  would  imme- 
diately scatter  in  all  directions,  and  the  work,  which  had 
perhaps  occupied  weeks,  counted  for  naught,  while  the 
hunter  cursed  his  luck  for  a  month  or  two. 

' '  Perhaps  the  most  successful  wild-horse  hunters  were 
those  who  commenced  the  vocation  as  early  as  1878.  The 
bravest  and  most  daring  of  all  was  E.  J.  Bell — 'Wild- 
Horse  Bell,'  as  everyone  on  the  Plains  called  him.  He 
certainly  is  entitled  to  the  championship,  if  numbers  is 
the  criterion.  He  captured  over  one  thousand  of  the 
wary  animals,  and  almost  alone.    He  never  abandoned 


NEARLY  CAUGHT  BY  CHEYENNES 


175 


but  one  herd  in  all  his  career,  and  then  severe  illness  was 
the  cause. 

"  James  R.  Pulton  and  John  Stevens,  both  of  them 
among  the  founders  of  Garden  City,  Kansas,  were  also 
remarkable  wild-horse  hunters.  To  Mr.  Fulton  belongs 
the  credit  of  making  the  greatest  single  '  catch '  on  rec- 
ord. Aided  by  Link  Fulton  (a  mere  lad  of  only  sixteen, 
and  son  of  the  famous  buffalo-hunter  Wm.  D.  Fulton)  he 
drove  in  and  corralled  seventy-two  head  of  the  most  mag- 
nificent animals  ever  caught  on  the  Great  Plains.  It  was 
accomplished,  too,  at  the  time  the  notorious  '  Wild  Hog,' 
chief  of  the  Cheyennes,  was  raiding  the  settlements  on 
the  border  with  his  band  of  renegade  savages,  during  the 
fall  of  1878.  The  cruel  and  bloodthirsty  devils  were  con- 
stantly on  the  lookout  for  horse-hunters,  as  they  were 
short  of  ponies,  but  Fulton  by  his  coolness  and  superb 
strategy  completely  outwitted  the  old  savage  and  all  his 
hosts. 

"  Mr.  Stevens,  while  hunting  wild  horses  one  day,  sud- 
denly found  himself  confronted  by  seven  well-armed  sav- 
ages. They  shot  his  horse  from  under  him,  and  wounded 
him  twice.  Finally,  he  put  a  fifty-caliber  Sharps'  rifle- 
ball  so  close  to  the  old  chief  that  the  cowardly  brutes 
hastily  retreated.  Then,  under  cover  of  darkness,  Mr. 
Stevens  made  his  way  to  camp,  fifteen  miles  distant,  con- 
sidering himself  very  lucky  to  get  out  of  the  scrape  as 
he  did. 

"  To  the  wild  horse  I  owe  my  preservation  from  a  hor- 
rid death,  as,  several  times  when  on  the  sandy  deserts 
without  a  drop  of  water,  dazed  and  bewildered  from  thirst 
and  exposure,  and  all  my  efforts  to  find  the  precious  fluid 
had  failed,  I  seated  myself  on  a  high  hill,  and  with  a 
field-glass  watched  for  a  band  of  horses.  On  discovering 
them  I  was  certain  of  relief,  for  all  I  had  to  do  then  was 
to  follow,  when  they  made  their  daily  trip  to  quench 
their  thirst,  as  they  were  sure  to  visit  some  lonely  pool 
or  lake  during  the  day. 


176 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


"During  my  expeditions  after  buffalo  calves  I  have 
been  able  to  pick  up  a  few  wild  colts  which  I  raised  on 
cow's  milk,  until  now  I  am  the  possessor  of  quite  a 
band  of  these  hardy  animals.  I  have  succeeded  in  mak- 
ing them  perfectly  gentle,  and  they  have  done  me  good 
service,  riding  after  their  old  neighbors  the  American 
bison.  The  colors  of  the  wild  horses  are  as  widely  diversi- 
fied as  in  the  domestic  stock.  There  is  one  peculiarity  in 
relation  to  this  subject,  however,  which  struck  me  very 
forcibly  when  I  first  observed  it:  that  is,  each  band  in  its 
primitive  state  on  the  Plains  is  composed  of  animals 
nearly  all  of  the  same  color,  or  at  least  of  its  different 
variations.  Sometimes  you  find  a  gray  stallion  in  charge, 
and  then  the  majority  of  the  animals  will  be  gray;  in 
other  instances  the  controller  is  black,  iron-gray,  clay- 
bank,  bay,  sorrel,  blue  (mouse-color),  etc.,  and  in  these 
herds  the  colors  corresponding  to  that  of  the  sire  would 
preponderate.  There  is  a  physiological  reason  for  this, 
which  is  of  course  obvious  to  the  intelligent  reader,  as  the 
offspring  resembles  the  sire  in  color  more  than  that  of 
the  dam,  and  proves  that  the  stallion  once  in  charge 
maintains  the  position  for  many  years. 

"  Most  of  the  wild  horses  are  excellent  trotters,  but  oc- 
casionally I  came  across  a  herd  of  pacers, —  remarkably 
fast,  too. 

uAt  one  time  while  hunting  on  the  headwaters  of  the 
Smoky  Hill  river  in  western  Kansas,  I  saw  for  several 
weeks  in  succession  a  magnificent  gray  stallion  which  was 
a  beautiful  pacer.  I  frequently  spurred  my  pony  to  the 
limit  of  his  speed,  but  failed  to  press  the  animal  hard 
enough  to  break  his  gait;  he  stuck  to  it  as  persistently  as 
a  thoroughbred.  I  have  often  since  regretted  that  I  did 
not  spend  a  month  or  two  in  endeavoring  to  capture  him ; 
yet  I  am  thankful  that  I  secured  as  many  as  I  did." 

There  are  other  interesting  animals  on  the  Great 
Plains,  which,  although  of  no  commercial  value,  are 


LEGEND   OF  THE  "  HAPPY  FAMILY" 


177 


perhaps  worthy  a  passing  notice.  Of  some  of  these, 
Colonel  Jones,  in  his  habit  of  closely  observing,  has 
written  in  his  journal,  from  which  I  now  quote  in  this 
relation : 

"  Nearly  every  student  of  the  history  of  our  mid-conti- 
nent region  has  heard  of  the  so-called  4  Happy  Family.' 
According  to  the  legend  —  for  legend  it  is — the  harmo- 
nious aggregate  consists  of  prairie-dogs,  owls,  and  the  rat- 
tlesnake ;  and  these  are  falsely  supposed  to  make  their 
home  in  the  same  burrow.  Of  the  first  mentioned,  the 
term  '  prairie-dog,'  so  far  as  classification  is  concerned,  is 
a  misnomer.  It  is  not  a  dog  in  any  sense  of  the  term ; 
no  mere  resembles  a  dog  than  a  cow  resembles  a  horse. 
They  are  not  carnivorous  at  all,  depending  entirely  upon 
roots  and  grass-seeds,  and  even  eat  the  grass  itself  in 
summer-time.  They  belong  to  the  order  Rodentia,  allied 
to  the  squirrel  and  such  gnawers.  The  prairie-dog  is 
really  a  species  of  marmot,  akin  to  that  which  infests  the 
fields  of  continental  Europe.  It  is  one-third  larger  than 
the  American  gray  squirrel,  but  its  tail  is  not  so  long  and 
bushy;  on  the  contrary,  rather  stubby  and  short.  The 
prairie-dogs  burrow  deep  in  the  ground ;  are  very  grega- 
rious, living  in  great  villages,  which  are  often  five  to  ten 
miles  long  and  as  many  broad.  These  burrows  connect 
beneath  the  surface,  and  some  of  them  are  from  fifty  to 
eighty  feet  deep,  reaching  water, —  for  this  quaint  animal 
must  drink.  It  is  a  sure  sign  that  water  is  within  access- 
ible distance  wherever  a  prairie-dog  town  is  located,  and 
those  holes  which  lead  to  it  are  constructed  in  a  sort  of 
winding-stair  fashion.  In  early  days  of  central  and  west- 
ern Kansas  I  located  many  settlers  on  homesteads,  and 
always  advised  them  to  dig  for  water  in  the  '  dog-towns ' ; 
and  I  never  heard  any  complaint  of  dry  wells  from  those 
who  acted  on  my  suggestion. 

"This  little  rodent  is  a  natural  barometer,  for  from 
twenty-four  to  forty-eight  hours  before  a  shower  he  may 
—  12 


178 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


be  seen  busily  engaged  in  banking  up  around  the  mouth 
of  his  burrow,  to  prevent  the  surface-water  from  flowing 
into  the  hole  and  drowning  himself  and  family.  By  Care- 
fully noting  the  habits  of  the  prairie-dog  I  have  many  a 
time  escaped  a  drenching,  keeping  near  my  tent  until  the 
storm  was  over. 

"  The  wrise  hunter  always  avoids  camping  close  to  or  in 
a  dog-town;  not  that  they  are  at  all  dangerous,  but  be- 
cause the  rattlesnake  is  certain  to  be  there  in  goodly 
numbers,  as  is  the  harmless,  blinking,  diminutive  prairie- 
owl.  Now  it  is  true  that  they  are  neighbors,  but  their 
proximity  is  not  any  indication  that  they  are  congenial ; 
far  from  it.  The  dog-hole  is  a  very  convenient  resort  for 
the  owl  in  the  glare  of  the  day,  without  any  effort  having 
been  expended  in  building  a  place  such  as  his  nature  and 
habits  require.  He  is  an  ungracious  bird  of  ill  omen, 
repaying  the  kindness  which  he  avails  himself  of,  by  de- 
vouring the  young  dogs.  The  rattlesnake  too,  finds  it 
convenient  to  accept  of  a  dwelling  which  presents  elegant 
accommodations  suitable  for  his  snakeship,  by  merely 
taking  possession,  where  he,  equally  as  ungrateful  as  his 
feathered  co-tenant,  delights  to  fatten  on  young  prairie- 
dogs.  One  day,  while  crawling  up  behind  a  clump  of 
weeds  to  shoot  an  antelope,  I  came  very  near  laying  my 
hand  on  a  monstrous  rattler.  On  jumping  up  to  shoot  it 
I  saw  a  prairie-dog  hole  near,  and  thrust  the  butt  end  of 
my  gun  into  the  hole  and  jumped  back.  The  snake  was 
soon  at  the  hole,  but  could  not  get  in,  neither  could  I  get 
my  gun.  The  antelope  became  quite  inquisitive,  and 
came  circling  around  until  it  was  within  good  gunshot ; 
but  it  was  perfectly  safe,  as  the  snake  had  commanded 
me  to  '  stand  back '  by  holding  his  head  high  above  his 
body,  darting  out  his  forked  tongue  in  rapid  succession. 
I  realized  my  position,  and  looked  in  every  direction  for 
Indians.  Had  there  been  a  hundred  swooping  down  upon 
me,  I  never  have  been  able  to  record  which  death  I  would 
have  preferred.    Finally  I  ran  to  the  top  of  a  divide,  and 


A  MAMMOTH  RATTLESNAKE 


179 


signaled  my  companion  to  bring  the  team  over.  I  then 
took  my  lariat-rope  and  threw  a  noose  over  the  head  of 
the  serpent,  and  endeavored  to  keep  it  alive  for  museum 
purposes,  but  drew  the  rope  too  tightly  around  its  neck 
and  choked  it  to  death. 

"  By  that  time  the  antelope  was  gone  and  we  ate  £  slap- 
jacks and  coffee '  for  another  twenty-four  hours,  before 
more  antelope  came  close  enough  to  be  shot. 

' '  The  rattler  was  so  large  that  he  had  swallowed  a 
prairie-dog,  evidence  of  which  fact  wras  indisputable  as  I 
opened  it  to  discover  what  had  caused  such  an  abnormal 
increase  in  his  diameter.  Of  course,  only  rattlesnakes  of 
the  largest  size  could  accomplish  a  feat  of  that  character. 
This  was  one  of  the  first  foundations  for  my  disbelief  in 
the  old  theory  of  the  '  happy  family  5  idea,  which  I  had 
read  of  long  before,  having  seen  it  in  an  article  published 
in  Harper's  Magazine  somewhere  in  the  4  50s,'  and  at  the 
time  accepted  it  as  true,  in  my  boyish  credulity.  Besides, 
another  confirmatory  proof  of  the  falsity  of  the  legend  is, 
that  I  have  often  seen  dozens  of  old  prairie-dogs  chatter- 
ing around  their  burrows,  as  a  bird  in  breeding-time  chat- 
ters when  its  nest  is  in  real  or  apparent  danger  from  some 
unwelcome  visitant,  and  upon  investigating  the  cause  of 
disturbance,  found  a  rattlesnake  in  the  prairie-dog's  bur- 
row, which  was  a  complete  bar  to  its  legitimate  owner's 
entering. 

"  The  owls,  as  stated,  are  particularly  the  enemy  of  the 
prairie-dog  when  the  latter  is  busy  rearing  her  young. 
The  prairie-dogs  are  often  obliged  to  obstruct  the  en- 
trance to  their  burrows  with  dirt  to  keep  the  intruders 
—  snakes  and  owls  —  out  until  the  little  ones  are  large 
enough  to  take  care  of  themselves.  To  be  sure,  the  mother 
has  to  emerge  occasionally  for  food ;  but  she  is  always 
mistrustful,  taking  the  precaution  to  block  up  the  mouth 
of  the  burrow  with  dirt  before  venturing  far  away.  The 
snakes  are  just  as  obnoxious  to  the  owls  as  to  the  dogs. 
They  devour  the  young  birds  whenever  found.    The  rat- 


180 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


tlesnake  is  among  the  most  deadly  enemies  of  all  crea- 
tures. If  he  cannot  swallow  an  animal  he  will  bite  it, 
and  death  is  the  penalty  in  both  cases.  Who  wonders 
that  the  Creator  doomed  his  snakeship  to  '  crawl  upon  hia 
belly'  for  all  eternity?" 


CHAPTER  XI 


SUCCESSFUL  CALF-HUNT 

EXTRAVAGANT  PREPARATIONS  —  HERD  OF  MILCH  COWS  SENT 

TO    THE     BUFFALO    RANGE  DISCOVERED  COMPETITION, 

CAPTURING  CALVES  —  CALLED  A  HALT  —  COMPETITOR  SUR- 
RENDERS, AND  MAKES  A  SMALL  FORTUNE  —  HORSE  BITTEN 

BY    RATTLESNAKE  SUNDAY  IN  CAMP  DISCOVERED  THE 

HERD  '  'HURRAH,    BOYS,    SUNDAY    OR    NO  SUNDAY!"  

ELEVEN  CAPTIVES  AT  ONE  RUN  —  WOLVES  DEVOUR  TWO  

COLONEL    JONES    CAPTURES    THREE  NEXT  MORNING  UNDER 

DIFFICULTIES  PATHETIC    POEM  SHOOTING    A  BUFFALO 

COW  WITHOUT  A  SIGHT  WONDERFUL  SUCCESS  IN  CATCH- 
ING CALVES  —  MORE  CALVES  THAN  COW7S  TO  FEED  THEM  — 

LONG  JOURNEY  FOR  RELIEF  TAKEN  FOR  CATTLE-THIEVES 

—  SECURES  A  DOZEN  COWTS  AT  FABULOUS  PRICES  —  AVARI- 
CIOUS IRISHMAN  REGRETS  HE  DID  n't  ASK  MORE  —  THIRTY- 
TWO    CALVES    ARRIVE    AT    RANCH  LEE    HOWARD,  THE 

TYPICAL  COWBOY  —  JOHN  BIGGS,  TYPICAL  RANCHER 

IN  the  spring  of  1888,  Colonel  Jones  again  organized  an 
"  outfit"  for  a  determined  pursuit  after  the  few  buf- 
falo calves  remaining.  He  arranged  the  transpor- 
tation of  the  expedition  by  utilizing  a  four-horse 
wagon,  loaded  with  provisions,  and  a  dozen  saddle-ponies, 
thoroughbreds,  and  bronchoes.  He  was  fortunate  in  se- 
curing the  services  of  Mr.  John  E.  Biggs  as  a  companion 
and  assistant,  who  was  to  take  charge  of  affairs  when 
Colonel  Jones  was  not  present.  Mr.  Biggs  was  a  typical 
cowboy,  or  rather,  had  been;  he  was  now  a  ranchman, 

(181) 


182 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


having  passed  the  cowboy  period  and  settled  down  to  the 
business  of  stock-raising,  with  his  wife  (a  beautiful  little 
school  teacher,  nee  Miss  Alice  Moore,  of  Ohio)  to  preside 
over  his  household.  He  was  disposing  of  his  herds  rap- 
idly, intending  to  take  a  rest  and  recreation,  which  he 
declared  he  much  needed.  Upon  the  earnest  solicitation 
of  Colonel  Jones,  who  at  last  persuaded  him  he  could  get 
no  better  recreation  than  by  a  trip  on  the  Plains,  he  con- 
sented ( though  reluctantly)  to  accompany  the  Colonel 
whenever  the  expedition  was  made  up. 

On  the  20th  of  April  the  expedition  pulled  out  from 
Garden  City,  Kansas,  Colonel  Jones's  home,  headed  for 
the  southwest;  Mr.  Biggs  in  charge,  as  the  Colonel  was 
compelled  to  linger  behind  for  about  a  week  in  order  to 
finish  some  important  business.  At  the  end  of  that  pe- 
riod the  ColoneF  hooked  up  two  of  the  wildest  bronchoes 
in  his  herd,  to  a  single-seated  buggy,  and  on  the  morning 
of  the  26th  dashed  away,  all  alone,  on  the  trail  of  Mr. 
Biggs.  There  were  several  settlers  in  that  portion  of 
southwestern  Kansas  through  which  he  intended  to  pass, 
who  had  emigrated  into  the  valleys  that  spring,  and  on 
his  first  night  out  he  was  entertained  by  one  of  them. 
The  second  and  third  nights,  he  camped  on  the  prairie 
alone;  the  fourth  day  overtaking  Mr.  Biggs  in  the  region 
called  "  No  Man's  Land,"  now  a  part  of  Oklahoma.  Mr. 
Biggs  was  a  careful  man  with  stock;  had  all  his  life  been 
accustomed  to  it;  and  on  this  trip,  as  he  had  twenty 
especially  selected  milch  cows  (upon  which  depended  the 
lives  of  the  buffalo  calves)  to  care  for,  had  prudently 
taken  his  time  for  the  work  assigned  him  by  the  Colonel. 
The  latter  found  everything  more  than  satisfactory,  and 
the  "  outfit "  traveled  until  camp  was  made  early  in  the 
evening.  This  was  on  the  border  of  Texas,  in  the  extreme 
northwestern  portion  of  that  State.  The  cows  and  ponies 
were  at  once  turned  loose  to  graze,  with  a  herder  to  watch 
them.  Twice  a  day  the  cows  were  milked  by  the  herder 
and  u  Shorty,"  the  cook;  though  all  the  milk  excepting 


COMPETITION  DISCOVERED 


183 


what  the  party  could  use  —  a  limited  amount — was 
necessarily  thrown  away,  as  the  calves  had  been  left  at 
home. 

On  the  morning  of  the  3d  of  May,  Colonel  Jones,  Mr. 
Biggs  and  one  of  the  teamsters  left  camp  in  a  light  wagon, 
freighted  with  five  days'  provisions,  and  other  parapher- 
nalia for  the  chase, —  four  ponies,  saddles,  etc., —  fully 
intent  on  accomplishing  something  in  the  line  of  the  busi- 
ness for  which  they  had  left  civilization.  They  crossed 
the  Aqua  Frio,  on  the  second  evening  arriving  at  the 
Paladura,  where,  at  the  head  of  this  stream,  about  twenty 
miles  from  the  South  Canadian,  they  established  their 
main  camp. 

They  were  now  very  near  the  western  boundary  of  Texas, 
and  here  were  discovered  evident  signs  that  buffalo  had 
been  in  the  vicinity  not  many  days  previously.  The  Colo- 
nel and  Mr.  Biggs  left  on  their  ponies  for  a  little  expe- 
dition together,  and  on  the  third  morning  out  from  the 
main  camp,  while  the  Colonel  was  carefully  scrutinizing 
every  inch  of  territory  visible  in  the  vast  region,  for  the 
whereabouts  of  the  remaining  shaggy  wanderers,  he  saw 
an  object  in  the  distance,  which  he  shortly  recognized  to 
be  a  man  on  horseback.  Supposing  it  to  be  an  Indian, 
they  rode  directly  toward  it,  and  discovered  it  to  be  Lee 
Howard,  a  ranchman  from  the  North  Canadian,  whom 
Colonel  Jones  had  frequently  met. 

"What  are  you  up  to  now?"  exclaimed  the  Colonel, 
after  the  customary  salutations  had  passed  between  the 
two. 

44 Catching  buffalo  calves,"  replied  Mr.  Howard. 
"  How  many  have  you  caught  ?  "  anxiously  inquired  the 
Colonel. 

4 4  Only  two,"  said  Mr.  Howard. 

This  was  a  bitter  pill  for  the  Colonel  to  swallow,  as  he 
was  aware  there  could  not  be  more  than  forty  calves  in 
the  country  —  maybe  not  half  that  number;  and  as  Mr. 
Howard  was  well  acquainted  throughout  the  west,  and 


184 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


was  a  good  hunter  besides,  the  Colonel  was  satisfied  his 
rival  would  secure  his  share  of  them. 

Colonel  Jones,  however,  who  is  never  at  a  loss  in  a  case 
of  emergency,  soon  arrived  at  a  determination  which  would 
quickly  settle  the  matter.  He  concluded  to  stop  Mr. 
Howard's  career  in  the  line  of  buffalo-calf  hunting,  and 
asked  him  how  much  he  would  charge  to  work  for  him 
during  the  next  two  months.  Mr.  Howard,  it  seems,  was 
bent  on  catching  buffalo  calves  for  himself,  however,  and 
in  his  reply  to  the  Colonel  put  his  services  at  such  a  high 
figure  that  he  supposed  it  would  certainly  be  rejected  at 
once.  He  said,  laughingly,  he  would  work  during  the 
period  specified  for  five  hundred  dollars.  Colonel  Jones 
accepted  the  proffer  before  the  sentence  was  fairly  com- 
pleted, not  waiting  to  u  dicker,"  as  he  felt  sure  Howard 
would  withdraw  the  offer  if  he  realized  it  was  being  con- 
sidered. Mr.  Howard  was  too  much  of  a  Western  man  to 
withdraw  his  word  after  its  having  been  accepted,  as  that 
was  a  completion  of  a  contract ;  and  out  in  the  region  of 
the  Great  Plains,  the  only  credit  that  prevails  is  a  reputa- 
tion for  honor  and  veracity.  So  from  the  moment  of 
Colonel  Jones's  acceptance  of  Mr.  Howard's  proposition, 
the  latter  was  working  for  him. 

While  the  two  men  were  discussing  the  probability  of 
the  whereabouts  of  buffalo,  a  cow  and  her  calf  made  their 
appearance  on  a  little  divide  not  far  away.  In  an  instant 
Mr.  Howard  was  off  after  the  calf,  which  happened  to  be 
one  well  advanced  in  age  and  strength,  and  the  race  for 
its  possession  continued  for  several  miles,  the  Colonel  fol- 
lowing on  a  canter.  The  persistent  little  brute  was  about 
to  get  away  altogether,  when  Mr.  Howard  halted  for  a 
moment,  stripped  off  the  heavy  Mexican  saddle  from  his 
horse,  to  relieve  it  from  so  much  weight,  jumped  on  again 
bareback,  and  the  calf  was  soon  in  the  noose  of  his  rope. 
While  he  was  tying  it,  a  large  rattlesnake  struck  the  horse 
on  the  ankle  of  his  fore  leg,  and  it  was  only  by  great  ef- 
fort that  the  animal  was  saved.    The  calf  was  a  beautiful 


SUNDAY  IN  CAMP 


185 


heifer,  and  when  three  years  old  sold  for  a  thousand  dol- 
lars. So  Mr.  Howard's  salary  was  doubly  paid  by  the 
capture  of  the  one  calf. 

The  next  day  was  passed  in  scanning  the  country  be- 
tween the  Paladura  and  the  South  Canadian.  Few  signs 
of  the  presence  of  buffalo  were  discovered.  The  three 
men  were  possessed  of  field-glasses,  and  separated  them- 
selves at  a  distance  of  about  six  miles.  Moving  to  the 
west,  a  small  band  of  buffalo  were  discovered  in  the  after- 
noon, out  of  which  Colonel  Jones  caught  a  calf,  the  only 
one  in  the  herd. 

It  was  now  Saturday  night,  and  all  went  into  camp 
near  a  small  lake,  such  as  are  .frequently  to  be  found  dur- 
ing a  wet  season  in  the  region  where  the  party  was.  It 
was  decided  to  rest  on  the  Sabbath  —  although  Sundays 
are  rarely  regarded  as  different  from  other  days,  on  an 
expedition  of  this  character.  The  wind  blew  very  fiercely, 
almost  a  hurricane,  and  it  became  too  monotonous  for  the 
wiry,  active  hunters  to  remain  in  camp  all  day  without  a 
tent  or  even  a  covered  wagon.  So  the  Colonel,  impatient 
of  the  enforced  idleness,  proposed  that  he  and  Howard 
should  take  a  ride  "  just  for  their  health,  and  nothing 
else."  The  former,  nothing  loath,  as  anxious  to  be  on 
the  move  as  the  Colonel,  acquiesced  promptly,  and  soon 
they  were  loping  to  the  southwest.  After  riding  in  that 
direction  for  a  few  miles  they  circled  toward  the  north- 
west, and  were  shortly  wending  their  way  slowly  back  to 
camp.  The  sun  was  rapidly  sinking  in  the  west,  when 
suddenly  Mr.  Howard  stopped,  fixed  his  glass  to  his  eyes, 
.and  said  he  saw  a  fine  herd  of  buffalo,  about  eighty  in 
number,  some  three  miles  northeast  from  where  they  then 
were,  and  the  same  distance  north  of  camp.  The  Colo- 
nel had  left  his  glasses  at  camp,  but  verified  the  facts 
through  Mr.  Howard's,  and  they  quickly  rode  to  the 
wagon,  changed  horses,  ordered  Mr.  Biggs  to  join  them, 
and  the  teamsters  to  follow  with  the  team.  As  he  dashed 
away,  the  Colonel  shouted,  "  Hurrah,  boys,  Sunday  or  no 


186 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


Sunday!  "  Away  the  three  hunters  went,  until  they  ap- 
proached, by  a  strategic  movement,  within  five  hundred 
yards  of  the  herd.  The  sun  was  just  going  down,  the 
wind  blowing  from  the  northwest  harder  than  ever.  The 
signal  was  given  by  Colonel-  Jones,  and  though  rein  and 
spur  were  freely  given  to  the  horses,  the  breeze  was  so 
strong  that  little  progress  was  made,  as  the  herd  pressed 
directly  toward  the  hurricane. 

44  Lie  close!"  shouted  Colonel  Jones.  Each  man 
obeyed,  laying  himself  close  down  on  his  animal's  neck, 
which  was  a  great  advantage  against  the  powerful  wind. 
The  herd  was  soon  overtaken,  and  as  it  required  such  an 
effort  for  them  to  run  against  the  wind, —  as  buffalo  gen- 
erally do  when  pursued, —  the  herd  varied  this  time,  and 
veered  to  the  south  on  a  line  nearly  in  the  direction  of 
camp,  in  which  direction  by  almost  superhuman  efforts 
Colonel  Jones  had  turned  them.  There  were  fourteen 
calves  in  the  herd,  and  before  it  had  run  five  miles,  eleven 
of  them  were  captured  and  tied  down.  Howard  securing 
five,  Biggs  four,  while  the  Colonel  caught  two  and  then 
turned  his  attention  to  gathering  up  the  calves,  as  dark-, 
ness  was  now  on.  Night  however  came  so  quickly  that 
two  were  lost  in  the  darkness,  and  became  a  prey  to  the 
hungry  wolves,  ever  on  the  alert  for  such  chances. 

At  dawn  the  next  morning  all  were  out  searching  for 
their  lost  prizes  of  the  night  before,  and  the  three  that 
had  escaped  with  the  herd.  Colonel  Jones  rode  the  same 
4 4 Gray  Devil"  that  caused  so  much  trouble  the  year  pre- 
vious, and  headed  to  the  northeast  and  up  a  deep  ravine 
or  canon  on  a  gallop,  for  time  was  precious.  Just  as  he 
rounded  a  little  point,  there  in  full  view  stood  eleven 
cows  and  the  three  frisky  calves  which  had  escaped  cap- 
ture the  night  before.  They  all  appeared  to  be  paralyzed 
with  fear,  as  there  was  no  egress,  except  to  pass  down  the 
canon  and  meet  their  pursuers.  There  was  no  way  to 
avoid  an  encounter,  as  to  retreat  for  assistance  would 
allow  them  all  to  escape.   The  herd  dashed  by  him  before 


"  RESCUE  THE  PERISHING  n 


187 


he  could  arrange  his  lasso ;  then  the  greatest  chase  of  the 
season  was  fully  on.  Dashing  after  them  with  his  usual 
energy  and  recklessness,  he  soon  had  two  of  them  tied 
fast  on  the  prairie.  The  third  one,  as  he  expresses  it, 
"  was  a  holy  terror  to  run  "  ;  in  fact,  all  three  had  been  so 
fleet  the  night  before,  that  they  escaped  even  the  thorough- 
bred horses, —  so  no  wonder  the  Colonel  hesitated  to  try 
them  on  the  gray  pony.  Only  by  chasing  at  angles,  and 
throwing  the  lasso  with  great  accuracy,  were  they  finally 
secured. 

It  was  nearly  noon  before  the  rest  of  the  party  knew 
where  the  Colonel  had  gone,  or  what  he  had  been  doing. 

The  wagon  containing  the  calves  had  been  dispatched 
early  in  the  morning  to  the  main  camp ;  the  three  caught 
that  day  were,  after  some  hard  work,  gotten  together,  and 
tied  to  a  rope  stretched  between  two  stakes,  as  before  de- 
scribed ;  but  that  evening  the  largest  took  a  fit  of  anger, 
and  dropped  dead.  To-day  the  two  captives  and  their 
offspring  form  a  charming  group  of  eleven  beautiful  and 
stately  buffalo. 

The  Colonel  related  the  above  facts  to  a  group  of  visit- 
ors one  day  at  Omaha,  Neb.,  and  shortly  afterward  was 
presented  with  the  following  contribution  from  one  of  his 
audience : 

"  RESCUE  THE  PERISHING." 

All  day  sped  on  the  panting  herd, 

Nor  paused  for  food  or  thirst  to  slake; 

An  unknown  goal  before  them  lay, — 
They  fled  alone  for  life's  sweet  sake. 

For  life  is  sweet  to  all  that  breathe, 
And  from  the  huntsman's  cruel  aim 

They  sought  a  refuge  safe  and  sure, 
And  to  the  lonely  canon  came. 

Thus  sheltered  from  the  glaring  sun, 
And  from  unpitying  murd'rous  eyes, 

They  drank  sweet  draughts,  and  herbage  browsed 
As  sweet  as  manna  from  the  skies. 


188 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


The  weary  miles  were  all  forgot, 

And  peace  came  to  that  little  band ; 

Night  found  them  housed  in  nature's  fold, 
Led  hither  by  "  the  Shepherd's  "  hand. 

And  morning  found  them  still  content. 

But  hark !    A  sound  comes  to  the  ear, 
A  sound  which  they  had  learned  full  well 

To  hear  with  naught  but  trembling  fear. 

The  ringing  hoof  beats  down  the  gorge, 

Urged  on  by  rider  yet  concealed, — 
Be  told  a  strife  undoubtedly, 

To  which  this  little  band  must  yield. 

No  egress  was  there  farther  on ; 

They  needs  must  wait  and  meet  their  foe, 
While  terror  and  dismay  now  reigned 

Where  dwelt  content  one  hour  ago. 

Ah,  not  for  sport  or  wild  adventure, 
Came  the  huntsman  that  fair  morn ; 

For  his  daring  deeds  of  valor, 
Was  a  purer  motive  born. 

Not  to  slay  —  ah,  no:  to  the  rescue, 

Was  his  mission  pure  and  high, 
To  lead  them  out  of  other  dangers 

Into  which  they  else  might  fly ; 

For  the  hand  that  bore  the  lasso, 

Was  a  friendly  hand  and  true, 
And  led  them  out  of  danger's  pathway, 

Into  pastures  strange  and  new. 

No  more  thirst,  and  no  more  hunger, 

A  hunter's  target  ne'er  to  be ; 
These  the  price  for  being  captives, — 

What  their  fate  if  they  were  free  ? 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Edwards  Keith. 

At  dawn  the  following  morning,  a  herd  of  about  sixty 
buffaloes  was  discovered  coming  directly  toward  camp. 
It  was  the  same  herd,  no  doubt.  There  were  no  calves 
among  them,  however.  Upon  Mr.  Howard's  suggesting 
it  would  be  well  to  kill  one,  as  they  were  entirely  out  of 


SHOOTING  WITHOUT  A  SIGHT 


189  ' 


meat,  the  Colonel  reached  for  his  Winchester,  and  strode 
away  to  meet  the  approaching  animals.  Just  before  get- 
ting within  rifle-range,  the  herd  discovered  the  camp, 
veered  to  the  right,  and  passed  Colonel  Jones  fully  three 
hundred  yards  distant.  A  fine  four-year-old  cow  was  in 
the  lead,  and  this  one  the  Colonel  marked  for  his  dinner; 
but  when  he  endeavored  to  take  aim,  he  found  that  the 
front  sight  to  his  rifle  was  entirely  gone.  There  was  no 
time  for  fooling;  he  quickly  made  a  calculation,  aimed 
(or  rather,  calculated )  ten  feet  ahead  of  the  running  beast, 
—  a  little  high, —  then  bang!  went  the  gun,  spat!  sounded 
the  ball,  and  up  went  the  tail  of  the  leader.  Of  all  the 
dashing,  spurting  and  "  cavorting  "  that  was  ever  seen,  she 
did  her  part  for  about  three  minutes,  and  then  began  to 
stiffen;  her  legs  stood  still  an  instant,  then  she  dropped. 
The  ball  had  gone  to  the  exact  spot  desired,  through  the 
lungs !  All  hands  now  came  up  to  where  the  Colonel 
stood,  and  when  they  discovered  he  had  shot  the  animal 
so  accurately  at  such  a  distance  on  the  run,  and  without 
a  sight  on  his  rifle,  they  pronounced  it  the  best  shot  they 
had  ever  seen  made. 

The  cow  was  a  fine  fat  beast,  and  afforded  meat  for 
the  whole  party  as  long  as  the  weather  permitted  them  to 
keep  it. 

Five  more  calves  were  captured  in  the  afternoon,  and 
the  extraordinary  success  continued  from  day  to  day,  un- 
til twenty-eight  were  safely  secured  at  the  main  camp. 
They  were  generally  frisky;  some  very  stubborn.  One  in 
particular  was  always  making  trouble.  He  would  run  a 
hundred  yards  out  of  his  way  any  time  in  order  to  butt 
over  some  of  the  boys  in  camp,  then  kick  up  his  heels  and 
return  to  his  foster-mother.  I  gave  him  the  name  of  the 
champion  pugilist  of  the  world  at  that  time — "John  L. 
Sullivan";  and  he  has  maintained  his  title  to  this  day, 
for  he  is  now  and  long  since  has  been  the  master  of  the 
herd.  He  has  never  met  his  "Corbett"  in  man  or  beast. 
He  it  was  which  thrust  his  left  horn  full  length  into  the 


190 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


stomach  of  the  celebrated  thoroughbred  runner  ' 'Ken- 
tuck,"  and  whirled  him  in  the  air  easily,  and  with  as 
much  rapidity  as  a  terrier  tosses  up  a  rat  with  his  nose. 
The  majority  of  the  calves  took  kindly  to  their  foster- 
mothers,  keeping  as  close  to  them  as  they  a  short  time 
previously  had  to  their  real  mothers.  Many  of  the  cows 
appeared  as  proud  of  the  little  orphan  at  their  side  as  a 
hen  with  one  chicken ;  others  would  fight  desperately 
when  the  calf  approached,  yet  to  no  purpose:  if  the  lit- 
tle buffalo  was  determined  to  have  its  supper,  it  could 
not  be  shaken  off,  as  supper  it  would  have. 

Success  had  so  abundantly  crowned  the  party's  efforts, 
that  a  council  was  called  by  Colonel  Jones,  to  consider 
future  movements.  There  were  more  calves  now  than 
cows  to  feed  them.  What  to  do  under  such  circumstances 
was  a  perplexing  question.  There  was  no  ranch  nearer 
than  a  hundred  miles;  besides,  ranchmen  are  very  much 
averse  to  selling  cattle  with  their  brand  on  them,  espe- 
cially when  they  know  they  are  to  remain  on  the  frontier. 
The  reason  is  obvious.  Suppose  anyone  desired  to  steal 
cattle  for  a  living:  all  that  would  be  required  of  him, 
would  be  to  produce  a  bill  of  sale  for  the  animals,  with 
the  particular  brand  of  any  cattle  he  had  killed,  not  be- 
longing to  himself. 

After  a  serious  consideration  of  the  embarrassing  prob- 
lem which  faced  them,  Colonel  Jones  determined  that  Mr. 
Biggs  should  accompany  him  to  the  lower  Paladura,  where 
if  possible  they  would  buy  cows  enough  to  equal  not  only 
the  number  of  calves  on  hand,  but  the  prospective  cap- 
tures as  well.  Mr.  Howard  was  to  remain  behind  and  con- 
tinue the  hunt,  securing  as  many  as  he  could. 

Early  in  the  morning  the  fastest  team  was  turned  east- 
ward, with  Colonel  Jones  driving.  All  that  day  they  drove 
rapidly,  camping  just  at  night  in  an  old  dugout  made  years 
before  entirely  underground  by  hunters  or  horse-thieves, 
in  the  side  of  the  bank.  The  next  afternoon  they  arrived 
at  a  large  ranch,  but  the  manager  refused  to  sell  a  hoof ; 


THE  IRISHMAN'S  HOME 


191 


would  scarcely  answer  them  civilly.  They  then  drove 
down  the  valley,  turning  in  for  the  night  at  the  abandoned 
stage  station  of  the  once  little  hamlet  called  "Zulu,"  in 
Texas.  There  was  a  sod  house  "  held  down  "  by  an  old 
bachelor,  the  only  inhabitant  of  the  place,  everything  else 
of  its  former  greatness  having  disappeared  with  the  col- 
lapse of  the  "boom," — the  fate  of  the  majority  of  the 
mushroom  towns  whose  ruins  may  be  met  with  all  over 
the  extreme  West. 

The  hermit  of  the  sod  house  thought  they  could  purchase 
some  cows  at  a  ranch  about  ten  miles  down  the  Paladura. 
So  the  next  morning,  after  having  partaken  of  the  old 
man's  hospitality  for  the  night,  the  party  as  soon  as  dawn 
showed  itself  were  rolling  over  small  hills  and  tumbling 
through  ravines,  until  they  came  to  the  ranch  they  had 
been  referred  to,  which  was  presided  over  by  one  Mr.  Pat 
O'Neal.  He  was  snugly  4 '  fixed  "  ;  his  family  was  living 
with  him,  and  all  appeared  as  happy  as  if  they  resided  in 
a  palace. 

It  was  quite  a  treat  to  gaze  upon  a  woman's  face  once 
more,  but  she  was  as  shy  as  they  were  familiar,  for  stran- 
gers (excepting  horse-thieves)  were  rarely  to  be  seen  in  the 
region,  so  remote  from  all  civilization,  and  the  presence  of 
the  hunting  outfit  evidently  disturbed  the  lady's  equanim- 
ity. 

Mr.  O'Neal  soon  appeared,  and  the  nature  of  the  Colo- 
nel's errand  was  made  known  to  him.  As  is  the  custom 
upon  visits  of  strangers,  he  was  very  inquisitive  as  to 
where  they  were  from,  and  what  they  wanted  with  cows. 
The  plain  facts,  without  any  equivocation,  were  related 
to  him,  and  when  Mr.  Biggs  spoke  for  himself,  he  was  im- 
mediately recognized  as  the  man  from  whom  he  (  O'Neal  ) 
had  purchased  his  start  of  ponies,  some  ten  years  pre- 
viously, which  was  one  point  in  favor  of  the  hunters. 

Cows  at  that  time  in  the  Western  market  were  worth 
about  fifteen  dollars  each,  but  Mr.  O'Neal  was  very  loath 
to  part  with  any,  and  concluded  to  make  such  a  price  to 


192 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


the  Colonel  as  would  bluff  him  at  the  outset ;  but  he  did 
not  know  the  persistent  Colonel.  Mr.  O'Neal  named  forty 
dollars  apiece  for  the  number  that  was  wanted,  expecting, 
of  course,  it  would  be  instantly  refused.  The  Colonel 
merely  remarked  that  about  half  that  price  would  be  con- 
sidered; upon  which  Mr.  O'Neal  gave  him  emphatically 
to  understand  that  not  a  cent  less  would  buy  them ;  in 
fact,  he  did  not  want  to  sell  at  all.  ColonelJones  at  once 
accepted  his  proposition,  and  drew  his  check  for  four  hun- 
dred and  eighty  dollars,  for  twelve  cows, —  all  the  stubborn 
Irishman  would  consent  to  let  him  have.  Mr.  Biggs  in- 
dorsed the  check,  which  Mr.  O'Neal  knew  made  it  good. 

Mr.  Biggs  was  left  to  drive  the  cows  over  to. the  camp, 
assisted  by  one  of  Mr.  O'Neal's  boys,  while  Colonel  Jones 
hurried  ahead  to  superintend  the  great  work  he  had  laid 
out  before  him. 

After  the  Colonel  had  departed,  Mr.  O'Neal  chuckled, 
and  boasted  to  Mr.  Biggs  that  "he  had  played  that  man 
for  a  sucker,  and  he  swallowed  the  bait  readily." 

Mr.  Biggs  asked  O'Neal  if  he  knew  Colonel  Jones. 

O'Neal  replied,  "  Yes  —  know  him  well  by  his  being  so 
foolish  as  to  pay  forty  dollars  for  such  cows." 

4 'Yes,"  answered  Mr.  Biggs;  "but  you  don't  know 
him.  He  is  known  throughout  the  country  as  '  Buffalo 
Jones.'  He  built  Garden  City,  Kansas;  has  constructed 
a  marble  block  which  cost  him  a  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars, and  he  can  command  a  hundred  thousand  in  cold 
cash  by  one  stroke  of  his  pen.  He  is  wild  on  the  question 
of  saving  the  buffalo,  and  would  just  as  willingly  have  paid 
you  eighty  dollars  apiece  for  the  cows  as  forty." 

"Be  jabers  !  "  responded  Pat,  after  this  disclosure,  "I 
wish  I  had  struck  him  for  a  hundred  dollars  apace." 

Mr.  Biggs  frequently  tells  this  story  of  the  discomfiture 
of  the  avaricious  Irishman,  and  enjoys  it  amazingly. 

The  cows  arrived  at  camp  in  excellent  condition,  and 
the  hunt  was  continued  until  the  last  buffalo  calf  of  the 
season  had  been  secured;  in  all,  thirty-seven. 


END  OF  THE  CALF  HINT 


193 


Mr.  Biggs  was  left  in  command  of  the  4 4  outfit"  and 
Colonel  Jones  struck  across  the  country  on  horseback, 
with  three  days'  provisions  in  his  saddlebags.  He  was 
mounted  on  his  best  and  fastest  animal,  and  reached  his 
own  ranch  in  safety,  having  been  absent  in  all  just  six 
weeks. 

Mr.  Biggs  joined  him  at  Garden  City,  July  6th,  as  soon 
as  the  44 drive"  could  be  made,  with  thirty- two  of  the 
calves,  having  been  gone  from  home  nearly  three  months. 

Thus  ended  the  most  successful  expedition  after  buf- 
falo calves  ever  inaugurated,  without  a  mishap  or  a  mis- 
calculation on  the  part  of  Mr.  Biggs  the  typical  ranchman, 
or  Mr.  Howard  the  typical  cowboy  of  the  Great  West.  Mr. 
Jones  alone  made  the  one  mistake,  as  he  should  have  sent 
forty  cows  with  Mr.  Biggs  instead  of  twenty;  but  44  all 's 
well  that  ends  well."  The  expense  of  the  expedition  was 
eighteen  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars.  The  thirty- 
two, animals  and  their  offspring  proved  to  be  worth  many 
times  that  amount  to  their  owner,  besides  the  consolation 
of  realizing  that  he  had  been  doing  his  duty  toward  pre- 
serving the  great  race  of  buffalo,  and  at  the  same  time 
atoning  for  his  wickedness  of  former  years  in  slaying  so 
many  of  the  noble  animals. 


—  13 


CHAPTER  XII 


THE  ANTELOPE 

THE  SHYEST  AND  FLEETEST  OF   ALL   ANIMALS  UA  MIGHTY 

GOOD  GREYHOUND  TO  CATCH  A  MIGHTY  POOR  ANTELOPE  " 

 WHOLE    CITY    ON    A    HUNT,  DOGS    INCLUDED  COLONEL 

JONES  KILLS  MORE  THAN  ALL 

THAT  old  song,  "I  '11  chase  the  antelope  o'er  the 
plain,"  was  a  favorite  one  of  Colonel  Jones  when 
a  barefooted  country  boy  herding  cattle  on  his 
father's  farm.  Little  did  he  dream  then  he  would 
become  the  champion  hunter  of  this  slyest  and  fleetest 
animal  on  the  American  continent.  The  greyhound  has 
ever  been  regarded  as  the  swiftest  of  all  four-footed  beasts ; 
but  this  is  not  a  fact.  Where  one  greyhound  may  occa- 
sionally, under  favorable  circumstances,  outstrip  an  an- 
telope, there  are  fifty  which  cannot  keep  in  sight  after 
running  the  first  mile.  There  is  no  better  illustration  of 
the  relative  speed,  of  these  flying  beauties,  than  the  re- 
mark of  ex-Governor  St.  John,  of  Kansas.  He  is  also  a 
veritable  Nimrod.  Once,  when  on  a  protracted  hunt  on 
the  western  Plains  with  Colonel  Jones  (who  was  an  aide- 
de-camp  on  his  staff,  and  upon  whom  he  always  depended 
during  the  Indian  troubles  on  the  border),  the  latter 
asked  the  Governor  his  opinion  in  relation  to  hunting 
antelope  with  greyhounds.  "  Well,"  replied  the  Gov- 
ernor, "I  have  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  it  takes  a 
mighty  good  greyhound  to  catch  a  mighty  poor  antelope." 

(194) 


DEER-HUNTING  IN  SOUTHWESTERN  KANSAS  195 

No  one  realized  this  quaint  declaration  better  than  Colo- 
nel Jones.  He  was  possessed  of  the  fastest  and  best 
blooded  specimens  of  the  breed  to  be  procured  in  this 
country  and  in  Europe ;  had  tried  them  thoroughly,  but 
was  compelled  to  abandon  their  services,  much  to  his  re- 
gret. Some  of  the  famous  animals  would  occasionally 
catch  an  antelope,  but  it  was  such  an  effort  for  the  dog, 
that  often,  for  over  a  fortnight  after  the  chase,  it  was  un- 
able to  enter  the  lists  again.  Its  feet  were  so  badly  torn 
and  bruised  by  running  over  the  dry  baked  earth  of  the 
prairie,  covered  with  cacti,  that  it  was  impossible  to  at- 
tempt another  run  until  the  greyhound  had  completely 
recovered. 

Colonel  Jones  then  employed  his  dogs  in  another  direc- 
tion,— that  of  pursuing  the  deer  which  made  their  lairs 
in  the  tall  grass  growing  in  the  sandhills  skirting  the  Ar- 
kansas, Cimarron  and  Beaver  rivers,  on  the  south  of  the 
first-mentioned  stream.  These  animals  are  compelled  to 
resort  to  grass,  in  consequence  of  the  absence  of  timber  in 
the  region  of  their  habitat. 

This  was  royal  sport,  as  well  as  a  profitable  business, 
the  carcass  of  a  large  deer  readily  selling  for  from  fifteen 
to  twenty  dollars ;  and  the  Colonel  lived  in  a  country  that 
compelled  him  to  sell  game  in  order  to  live, —  much  to  his 
regret,  however.  His  methods,  always  novel,  evidenced 
his  natural  genius  in  cases  of  emergency.  It  was  almost 
an  impossibility  for  a  team  and  wagon  to  get  through 
those  apparently  interminable  sandhills  bordering  the 
rivers  of  southwestern  Kansas.  His  plan  was,  to  enter 
the  hills  on  horseback,  leading  one  or  two  pack  animals, 
by  which  means  he  was  enabled  to  go  almost  anywhere 
without  much  difficulty. 

The  deer  always  came  to  the  river  at  night  to  drink,  and 
next  day  they  could  be  easily  tracked  to  their  lairs  in  the 
tall  grass  by  bloodhounds ;  the  mouths  of  the  hounds  be- 
ing muzzled  so  as  to  prevent  their  bellowing  on  the  track.' 
As  soon  as  Colonel  Jones  had  reached  one  of  these  hiding- 


196 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


places  by  following  the  trail  made  from  the  spot  where 
the  deer  had  drunk  and  the  frightened  animal  leaped  out, 
two  of  the  hounds  would  be  unleashed,  and  before  the 
deer  had  run  a  quarter  of  a  mile  they  would  be  at  his 
throat  with  such  grip  of  their  strong  jaws  and  great  teeth, 
that  he  succumbed,  after  a  desperate  struggle. 

It  is  a  popular  belief  among  the  uninitiated,  that  the 
deer  is  fleeter  than  any  other  of  the  ruminant  animals ; 
hence  the  proverb,  when  it  is  desired  to  express  swiftness, 
"  He  runs  like  a  deer."  This  is  merely  a  popular  adage, 
however,  for  the  antelope  is  fully  one-fourth  faster  than 
the  deer.  The  antelope  cannot  successfully  be  captured 
by  dogs  as  a  profitable  business.  They  differ  from  the 
deer  in  their  alertness ;  their  almost  intuitive  knowledge 
of  danger  in  an  instant  causing  them  to  flee  at  its  slightest 
sight  or  sound.  Because  of  these  remarkably  developed  in- 
stincts of  the  antelope,  it  became  one  of  the  most  perplex- 
ing questions  that  ever  confronted  Colonel  Jones,  how  to 
secure  some  of  the  thousands  of  those  beautiful  creatures 
roaming  over  the  illimitable  plains  of  the  Great  West, 
without  an  expenditure  of  time  that  was  worth  more  than 
the  results  in  a  pecuniary  view ;  for  mere  hunting  as  an 
amusement  was  a  thing  of  the  past  with  the  Colonel.  He 
made  a  careful  study  of  the  habits  of  the  animal,  after 
exhausting  every  device  he  could  think  of,  and  then  his 
efforts  were  crowned  with  that  success  which  has  always 
been  his  reward  when  he  set  himself  to  work  out  a  prob- 
lem which  engaged  his  earnest  attention. 

There  was  a  constant  and  increasing  demand  for  ante- 
lope in  the  market,  at  values  ranging  from  three  to  five 
dollars  each,  and,  as  stated,  after  every  plan  had  failed, 
the  method  which  Colonel  Jones  at  last  adopted,  the  result 
of  deep  study  of  the  nature  of  the  coveted  animal,  was  a 
phenomenal  success.  He  learned  that  while  wild  animals 
are  in  motion  they  do  not  possess  the  sense  of  discerning 
whether  other  objects  are  also  moving,  or  whether  they  are 
fixed.    This  was  the  key  to  the  problem  he  had  been  so 


STRATEGY  PRACTICED  ON  ANTELOPES 


197 


long  endeavoring  to  solve.  It  was  a  great  discovery,  one 
in  keeping  with  the  genius  of  the  man ;  and  Colonel  Jones 
turned  the  key  very  often,  indeed,— always  to  his  pecuni- 
ary advantage.  He  would  drive  out  in  the  early  morning 
to  where  the  antelope  were  feeding,  and  guide  his  thorough- 
bred horses  toward  the  herd,  as  if  to  pass  them.  The 
antelope  allowed  the  wagon  to  come  within  perhaps  five 
hundred  yards,  when  they  would  circle  around,  then  dash 
away  for  a  half  a  mile  at  a  terrible  speed,  stop,  and  resume 
their  feeding.  Colonel  Jones  would  again  drive  in  the 
direction  of  the  herd,  but  at  an  angle  which  kept  them  to 
the  right  or  left,  as  the  case  might  be,  at  a  distance  of 
about  two  hundred  yards.  The  herd  would  stand  still, 
their  curiosity  excited,  until  the  team  was  nearly  opposite, 
when  off  they  would  dash,  away  ahead  of  their  pursuer, 
who  apparently  paid  no  attention  to  them  ;  if  anything,  the 
gait  of  the  team  slackened  until  the  third  or  fourth  round 
of  these  maneuvers.  By  this  time  the  antelope  had  natur- 
ally determined  they  were  not  being  pursued,  and  permit- 
ted the  wagon  to  come  within  two  or  three  hundred  yards, 
at  which  they  merely  cantered  leisurely  off  on  a  slow  gal- 
lop. This  was  the  golden  opportunity.  No  sooner  than 
the  last  antelope  had  moved  away  (and  not  before),  the 
horses  were  guided  directly  toward  the  herd,  and  the  word 
given,  "Go!"  Then,  at  the  height  of  their  speed,  the 
horses,  trained  to  their  business,  dashed  down  upon  the 
herd  still  loping  along,  unconscious  of  any  change  of 
action  upon  the  part  of  their  follower  until  the  latter  was 
within  fifty  yards  of  the  contented  animals,  when  a  gentle 
command,  "  Whoa,"  was  given  to  his  perfectly  intelligent 
team.  In  an  instant  they  were  still  as  statues,  and  Colo- 
nel Jones  was  on  the  prairie  with  his  Winchester  rifle 
pouring  lead  into  the  herd  at  such  a  rapid  rate  that  a 
stranger  would  think  the  noise  coming  from  a  volley  of 
musketry.  At  every  discharge  of  his  gun,  from  one  to 
three  antelopes  would  roll  over  like  footballs,  their  veloc- 
ity being  so  great  that  they  often  turned  two  or  three 


198 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


somersaults  before  stopping.  Now  could  be  witnessed  the 
strangest  feature  of  the  wonderful  spectacle :  the  herd 
invariably,  at  this  juncture,  would  circle  around  the 
hunter,  and  all  run  up  in  a  compact  mass  as  soon  as  one 
was  hit,  the  ball  almost  certainly  stopping  one  or  two 
more,  after  passing  through  the  first  and  second  antelope. 
It  was  no  unfrequent  occurrence  for  Mr.  Jones  to  kill  from 
eight  to  ten  as  the  herd  made  a  circuit,  at  a  maximum 
distance  of  from  two  to  three  hundred  yards. 

Colonel  Jones,  having  discovered  this  secret,  hunted 
these  animals  with  great  success,  and  was  envied  by  all 
old  plainsmen,  who  had  never  learned  the  methods  he 
employed,  for  he  carefully  excluded  from  his  expeditions 
anyone  who  would  be  likely  to  understand  them.  As  to 
the  number  of  antelopes  he  could  kill,  he  was  only  limited 
by  the  time  occupied,  if  the  game  was  plentiful,  even  if 
the  number  only  reached  into  the  dozens.  He  had  an 
open  challenge  against  the  world,  to  the  amount  of  five 
hundred  dollars,  that  he  could  kill  more  antelope  in  one 
day  than  any  other  man  in  this  or  any  other  country. 

On  one  occasion,  just  after  a  hard  blizzard,  it  was  re- 
ported in  the  town  that  there  were  fully  a  thousand  ante- 
lope congregated  about  ten  miles  north.  Two  of  the  best 
hunters  in  the  place  at  once  organized  a  grand  hunt  for 
the  next  day.  That  evening  they  called  upon  Colonel 
Jones,  laid  their  plans  before  him,  and  insisted  that  he 
must  join  them  on  the  morrow.  The  Colonel  was  not 
that  kind  of  a  hunter,  however,  for  he  always  planned 
and  executed  according  to  his  own  ideas,  and  then  car- 
ried them  out  to  the  very  letter.  After  many  apologies 
he  succeeded  in  convincing  them  that  it  was  impossible 
for  him  to  go  with  them. 

At  sunrise  the  next  morning,  eighteen  men  armed  with 
Winchesters  and  shotguns,  accompanied  by  a  dozen  grey- 
hounds, started  out  for  their  anticipated  great  slaughter, 
taking  wagons  enough  with  them  to  haul  a  hundred  ante- 
lope to  market.    The  day  was  an  ideal  one,  and  the  Colo- 


THE  CHAMPION  ANTELOPE-HUNTER 


199 


nel  was  out  of  sorts  because  he  could  not  be  at  work  with 
his  favorite  weapon  among  the  antelope,  but  was  too 
honorable  to  go  where  his  neighbors  had  gone,  after  he 
had  refused  to  accompany  them.  About  three  o'clock 
p.  m.,  his  neighbor  Jessup,  an  old  Quaker,  came  puffing  up 
to  the  Colonel's  residence,  and  inquired,  "  Why  don't  thee 
go  out  to  my  house  and  get  some  antelope  for  thee  and 
me?"  Learning  from  the  kind-hearted  old  gentleman 
that  there  was  a  small  herd  of  thirteen  near  his  ranch, 
only  three  miles  distant,  the  Colonel  saddled  his  thorough- 
bred ' '  Kentuck"  and  was  soon  on  the  trail  to  the  Quaker's. 
Arriving  at  the  house,  he  discovered  that  the  old  man's 
dog  had  been  chasing  the  animals  and  they  were  very 
timid;  so  he  did  not  get  near  them  until  nearly  sundown. 
When  the  hunt  was  over,  he  had  bagged  eleven  out  of  the 
thirteen.  The  Colonel  then  hired  a  son  of  the  old  Quaker 
to  haul  nine  of  them  to  the  railroad  station,  leaving  two 
with  the  family  whose  head  had  so  kindly  informed  him 
of  the  presence  of  the  antelope  on  his  ranch.  Imagine 
the  humiliation  of  the  eighteen  hunters  on  their  return  to 
town  in  the  beautiful  moonlight  that  night,  to  find  them- 
selves the  possessors  of  but  seven  out  of  a  thousand,  and 
the  Colonel  having  killed  eleven  out  of  a  herd  of  only 
thirteen . 

Many  such  incidents  could  be  related,  but  one  must 
suffice.  It  is  from  his  remarkable  success  with  antelope 
that  he  enjoys  an  international  reputation  as  "  the  cham- 
pion antelope-hunter  of  the  world." 

The  American  antelope  is  generally  known  as  the 
prong-horned  antelope,  and  sheds  its  horns  annually. 
Unlike  the  deer,  elk,  and  others  of  that  particular  group, 
it  has  hollow  horns,  like  the  cow,  goat,  and  sheep,  and  is 
the  only  animal  of  this  class  which  sheds  its  horns  in  this 
way.  The  bony  prong  never  drops  off,  but  the  sheath 
which  covers  it  slips  off,  and  another  is  quickly  grown  to 
cover  it. 

The  mating  season  is  in  October,  when  the  males  do 


200 


FORTY  YEARS  OF  ADVENTURES 


hard  fighting,  and  may  be  seen  pursuing  each  other  with 
wonderful  rapidity,  for  half  a  day  at  a  time.  Their  mus- 
cles are  then  in  a  great  state  of  development,  and  it  is 
useless  for  a  greyhound  to  attempt  to  catch  one  at  this 
season  of  the  year. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


THE  LAST  HUNT  ! 

on  the  desert  where  the  rain  was  withheld  let- 
ters conveying  news  sent  out  by  carrier-pigeons  

buffalo  discovered  effort  to  corral  the  herd  

three  calves  quickly  captured  the  mothers'  des- 
perate charge  deluge  comes  unexpectedly  ' 1  the 

way  to  catch  a  buffalo  calf  is  to  catch  it  "  

roping  full-grown  buffalo  —  dangerous  operation 

 desperadoes  camped  with  the  party  awaiting 

the  last  opportunity  on  "  jubar  "  forty-two  days 

and  nights  in  pursuit  of  the  last  herd  tame  as 

cattle  —  so  gentle  they  would  even  run  under  the 
saddle-horses,  rather  than  leave  their  range  — 
colonel  jones's  wonderful  success  recorded  in  his- 
tory, NEVER  TO  BE  OBLITERATED 

THE  story  of  the  last  buffalo-hunt  is  graphically  told 
in  Colonel  Jones's  journal,  under  date  of  May 
16th,  1889.  There  is  something  very  sad  in  the 
fact  that  at  this  time  the  great  animals  were  al- 
most extinct,  which  less  than  twenty  years  previously 
were  so  numerous  that  the  United  States  troops  in  their 
expeditions  against  the  hostile  tribes  of  Indians  were  fre- 
quently compelled  to  fire  into  the  vast  herds,  to  turn 
them  and  prevent  them  from  overriding  the  command. 

Colonel  Jones's  entry  recording  his  last  hunt  for  buf- 
faloes is  dated  at  Arito  Blanco,  a  small  stream  about 

(201) 


202 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


thirty  miles  south  of  the  Canadian  river,  in  the  Pan- 
handle of  Texas.    He  says: 

"I  fear  this  is  the  most  stupendous  of  all  my  under- 
takings. Everything  goes  to  make  the  task  of  capturing 
a  herd  of  wild  buffalo  more  difficult.  It  appears  there 
has  been  no  rain  in  this  desert  for  years  past.  Surely, 
there  must  be  a  Joshua  in  these  remote  and  God-forsaken 
wilds,  who  is  withholding  the  rain.  Should  we  see  him, 
a  lasso  is  just  as  apt  to  encircle  his  neck  as  a  buffalo 
calf's,  until  we  see  the  deluge  forthcoming. 

"Then,  too,  the  buffalo  are  scattered  to  the  four  winds, 
and  hide  away  in  deep  canons.  They  instinctively  know 
their  doom  is  sealed.  How  different  they  appear  from 
those  of  old  !  —  the  sluggish,  drooping,  lazy  creatures  they 
were.  They  now  keep  their  sense  of  sight,  smell,  sound 
and  feeling  wrought  up  to  such  a  tension  that  they  are 
often  gone  long  before  we  have  discovered  their  presence, 
only  their  tracks  remaining  to  betray  their  former  haunts. 
These  we  discover  by  the  keen  scent  of  our  bloodhounds ; 
but  it  is  so  dry  that  they  are  unable  to  pursue  the  trail 
any  great  distance. 

"  Don't  be  surprised  if  we  do  not  catch  a  single  animal. 
The  opportunities  for  such  expeditions  have  passed  for- 
ever, and  can  only  be  read  of,  by  future  generations.  How 
sad  !  How  shameful !  And  more,  to  this  and  past  genera- 
tions, how  disgraceful  1 

"As  I  expect  to  reach  the  Denver  &  Fort  Worth  Rail- 
road in  a  couple  of  days,  I  note  here  some  of  the  incidents 
of  this  exciting  expedition,  since  I  sent  the  last  pigeon  off 
to  the  north  three  days  ago." 

It  is  better,  perhaps,  that  I  interpolate  here  the  letter 
which  that  pigeon  carried,  as  it  will  render  the  story  of 
the  final  hunt  more  intelligible  to  the  reader.  The  pigeon 
referred  to  by  Colonel  Jones  was  the  first  sent  away  from 
the  locality  where  he  then  was,  to  carry  to  Garden  City 
the  report  of  the  progress  of  the  last  buffalo-hunt,  where 


STARTING  FOR  THE  HUNTING-GROUNDS 


203 


it  was  repeated  by  wire  to  the  Chicago  Times,  which  had 
furnished  the  Colonel  with  carrier-pigeons  in  order  to  get 
the  first  news  of  this  hunt  of  all  hunts,  either  ancient  or 
modern.    The  text  of  that  letter  was: 

"Arito  Blanco,  Northwest  Texas, 
May  10,  1889. 

"  Dick  Williams  and  I  left  Garden  City,  Kansas,  accord- 
ing to  arrangements  previously  agreed  upon,  on  the  2d 
day  of  May,  at  2  : 10  a.  m.,  with  a  light  buggy,  to  which  were 
attached  a  pair  of  the  very  best  roadsters  in  the  country. 
In  two  days  we  arrived  at  the  headwaters  of  the  North 
Canadian,  a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-five  miles, 
or  an  average  of  seventy-seven  and  a  half  miles  a  day, 
which  proves  the  superior  endurance  of  the  animals.  I 
found  all  my  men  nicely  established  in  camp,  eagerly 
awaiting  my  arrival  and  anxious  to  begin  the  exciting 
work  for  which  they  had  come.  They  had  been  prospect- 
ing over  a  great  range  of  country  in  northwestern  Texas, 
and  luckily  had  located  two  small  herds  of  buffalo,  one  of 
which  comprised  two  bulls  and  twelve  cows. 

"  Immediately  upon  this  gratifying  report  I  organized 
an  expedition,  consisting  of  Lee  Howard,  William  Terrill, 
and  myself.  We  prepared  a  week's  rations,  a  barrel  of 
water,  and  for  our  transportation  six  riding-horses  and 
two  mule  teams.  On  the  morning  of  the  6th  we  drew 
out,  heading  for  'Antelope  Draw,'  some  forty  miles  from 
our  camp,  at  which  point  we  were  certain  the  fourteen 
buffalo  were  hiding  in  the  breaks  of  the  sandhills.  This 
was  a  sequestered  locality,  where  man  rarely  penetrated, 
and  where  the  grass  was  green,  as  the  snow  had  drifted  on 
the  sides  of  the  divides  and  moistened  the  earth,  thereby 
giving  vegetation  an  early  start.  We  arrived  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  Antelope  Draw  early  that  evening,  when  Howard, 
who  was  riding  in  advance,  suddenly  signaled  for  us  to 
halt.  In  a  few  moments  he  rode  back  to  where  we  were 
waiting,  and  reported  everything  '  all  0.  K.,'  upon  which 


204 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


we  turned  off  to  the  left  and  went  into  camp  for  the  night, 
anxious  for  the  contest  with  the  buffalo  next  morning. 

"The  day  broke  dark  and  drizzling.  Nevertheless,  we 
were  up  betimes,  and,  breakfast  out  of  the  way,  we 
mounted  our  horses  and  started  for  our  covey.  We  routed 
the  shaggy  beasts  early,  and  never  were  animals  more 
surprised.  They  were  terribly  alarmed  at  our  unexpected 
presence,  perfectly  frantic  with  fear,  and  began  to  stam- 
pede in  every  direction,  but  they  soon  joined  the  main 
herd.  We  took  everything  very  easy,  made  all  the  'cut- 
offs '  possible,  thus  saving  the  wind  of  our  horses ;  while 
the  excited  buffalo  sometimes  made  great  circles  to  avoid 
us,  traveling  that  day  at  least  a  hundred  miles,  while  we 
did  not  exceed  three-fourths  that  distance. 

"  The  bulls  were  very  poor  and  shaggy,  soon  dropping 
out,  leaving  the  twelve  cows,  which  by  the  third  day  of 
the  chase  became  so  gentle  we  could  ride  within  two  hun- 
dred yards  of  them  without  any  difficulty.  On  that  af- 
ternoon, as  we  were  passing  the  mouth  of  a  canon,  five 
immense  cows  and  three  baby  buffaloes  winded  us,  and 
dashed  out  into  the  prairie,  much  to  our  astonishment 
and  delight.  Terrill  and  I  were  in  the  light  wagon  and 
Howard  on  horseback.  As  soon  as  I  grasped  the  situa- 
tion I  shouted  to  Howard :  '  Save  the  calves !  Save  the 
calves !  '  and  in  another  instant  he  was  rushing  over  the 
prairie  toward  them  like  the  shadow  of  a  rapidly  moving 
cloud.  Nearer  and  nearer  he  approached  the  frightened 
little  brutes,  which  now,  seeing  they  were  pursued, 
strained  every  nerve  to  escape.  Howard  was  swinging 
his  lasso  over  his  head,  as  is  the  custom,  to  give  it  the 
proper  momentum,  and  I  could  almost  hear  it  hiss,  its 
velocity  increasing  as  he  gained  on  the  soon-to-be  cap- 
tives. Gracefully  it  shot  far  out  in  a  beautiful  curve, 
and  coiled  around  the  nex3k  of  the  calf  in  the  lead,  al- 
though it  was  hugging  its  excited  mother's  shaggy  shoul- 
ders. It  was  a  beautiful  sight  to  the  true  hunter,  and 
was  enjoyed  by  us  far  beyond  any  utilitarian  result  it 


THE  MOTHER  BUFFALO'S  DESPERATE  CHARGE  205 


might  possess  for  me.  Howard  was  on  his  favorite  horse 
'Charlie,'  a  famous  racer  among  the  cowboys  of  the  Ca- 
nadian. Besides,  Howard  had  been  perfectly  trained  to 
the  work  he  was  now  engaged  in,  as  the  ranchmen  always 
paid  him  extra  wrages  to  lasso  their  calves  for  brand- 
ing. It  was  a  relatively  easy  task  to  accomplish  with 
such  a  rider  on  his  back,  but  impossible  for  a  4  tender- 
foot,' had  one  attempted  it. 

44  The  calf,  as  the  rope  pulled  it  up  short,  tumbled  in  a 
heap.  The  horse,  supposing  it  was  the  cow  which  was 
wanted,  sped  right  on  until  he  reached  the  end  of  the 
lasso,  when  the  calf  began  to  dangle  like  a  rubber  ball  at- 
tached to  a  string.  At  this  juncture,  Howard  pulled  the 
bridle-reins  with  a  desperate  jerk  which  instantly  brought 
'Charlie'  to  a  standstill  on  his  hind  legs,  and  in  a  mo- 
ment put  a  noose,  he  had  already  prepared,  around  the 
calf's  neck,  took  a  couple  of  half-hitches  about  its  hind 
legs,  and  then  with  the  graceful  swing  of  a  Carmencita, 
lie  swung  to  his  place  in  the  saddle. 

44  Once  more  firmly  in  his  seat,  his  horse  was  under  full 
speed  after  the  flying  herd.  A  few  seconds  elapsed,  and 
another  calf  was  floundering  at  the  end  of  the  rope  like 
a  trout  pulled  from  the  stream  by  a  skillful  angler. 

44  By  this  time  the  enraged  mother,  fairly  wild  with  the 
development  of  her  maternal  instinct,  had  determined  to 
attempt  the  rescue  of  her  offspring.  She  dashed  at  the 
enemy  with  all  the  ferocity  of  her  outraged  nature ;  her 
eyes  looked  like  balls  of  fire ;  her  hair  bristled  all  over 
with  battle,  like  that  of  a  wildcat  at  bay;  and  her  tail 
stuck  straight  out  like  the  jib-boom  of  a  yacht.  She  was 
the  very  incarnation  of  fury  and  fight.  I  saw  at  a  glance 
that  she  meant  4  business,'  and  yelled  to  Howard :  4  Go! 
Your  life 's  in  danger !  Go  quick !  '  He  obeyed  my  injunc- 
tion just  in  time,  for  the  charging  brute  barely  missed  im- 
paling him  on  her  sharp  horns,  as  the  plunging  horse 
sprang  forward  in  response  to  the  rolling  steel  of  the 
spurs.    Howard  suddenly  whirled  in  the  saddle,  and  dis- 


206 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


charged  his  revolver  (a  big  44  Remington)  at  the  cow- 
just  as  she  reached  him.  The  shot  made  her  stagger,  and 
in  a  moment  both  horse  and  rider  were  beyond  immediate 
harm,  and  the  cow  soon  sank  to  Mother  Earth.  Our 
spring  wagon  was  light,  and  by  laying  the  lashes  on  we 
managed  to  keep  well  up  with  the  procession.  Howard 
was  still  in  the  saddle,  and  pursuing  the  calf  that  had  en- 
deavored to  overtake  the  herd. 

"  '  Five  to  one  he  gets  the  other  calf  !  '  I  shouted  in  my 
excitement,  as  the  little  animal  swiftly  crossed  a  small 
hill, — but  of  course  there  were  no  takers  present.  Sure 
enough,  as  we  drove  up  the  hill  which  had  hidden  How- 
ard from  view  for  a  few  moments,  I  saw  he  had  caught  and 
tied  it,  and  was  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  wagon  to  take 
it  wTith  the  other  captives  to  camp. 

"  These  calves  were  captured  at  the  head  of  the  Agua 
Frio,  in  Texas.  The  cows  we  had  been  driving  stam- 
peded, and  we  had  to  abandon  the  pursuit,  as  we  could 
not  very  well  continue  it  and  save  our  calves,  which  were 
of  more  importance  just  then  than  the  herd  just  aban- 
doned, for  '  a  bird  in  the  hand'  was  worth  far  more  than 
the  buffaloes  on  the  Plains.  So  we  started  for  camp,  and 
arrived  safely,  with  the  calves  intact,  where  they  nursed 
the  fine  Galloway  cows  we  had  brought  along  for  that  pur- 
pose. 

"I  shall  not  at  present  pursue  the  cows  we  abandoned, 
unless  we  can  start  as  many  as  twenty-five,  and  not  then 
until  all  have  dropped  their  calves.  We  have  seen  but 
twenty-four  altogether.  Verily,  the  days  of  the  buffalo 
are  numbered.  There  cannot  be  more  than  one  hundred 
left  in  the  whole  United  States,  outside  of  those  in  the 
National  Park,  and  they  will  probably  be  destroyed  by 
the  hunters  before  winter  sets  in. 

"May  11.  Oh,  heavens!  what  a  night  has  just  gone! 
Surely  Joshua  has  repented,  and  asked  for  rain.  Dick 
Williams  and  I  had  camped  in  a  £  draw '  or  little  gulch,  a 


DELUGE  COMES  UNEXPECTEDLY 


207 


short  distance  from  the  Coldwater,  a  stream  the  most 
properly  named  in  America.  Generally,  the  creeks  and 
rivers  on  the  Plains  are  misnomers,  but  this  one  did  not 
come  in  the  usual  category  last  night.  It  was  cold,  oh, 
how  cold !  We  had  nothing  with  us  but  the  buggy  and  a 
tarpaulin,  and  made  our  bed  with  the  latter,  in  the  depths 
of  the  gulch,  out  of  the  wind  as  much  as  possible,  which 
was  blowing  furiously,  at  the  rate  of  at  least  fifty  miles 
an  hour.  No  clouds  had  appeared  on  the  horizon  that 
afternoon  or  evening,  to  warn  us  of  coming  rain,  yet 
about  midnight  a  veritable  waterspout  seemed  to  have 
emptied  its  contents  upon  our  defenseless  heads.  In  less 
time  than  it  takes  to  record  it,  we  were  in  the  midst  of  a 
mighty  flood.  Underneath  us,  where  a  few  seconds  before 
the  ground  was  as  dry  as  a  powderhorn,  it  was  now  filled 
with  water  nearly  waist  deep,  and  increasing  rapidly. 

"  We  quickly  gathered  all  our  traps,  which  were  already 
soaked,  threw  them  into  the  buggy,  and  I  seized  the 
buggy-pole  and  shouted  in  the  darkness  to  Dick,  to  push; 
and  thus,  blundering  over  the  sharp  stones,  barefooted, 
we  hauled  the  vehicle  to  higher  ground. 

"We  were  completely  drenched;  there  was  not  a  single 
dry  thread  on  us,  and  still  the  cold  rain  and  sleet  con- 
tinued to  pour  remorselessly  down  upon  us.  Dick,  in  the 
excitement,  had  lost  his  boots,  hat,  coat  and  vest  in  the 
roaring  flood,  and  I  the  key  to  my  'gripsack'  as  I  tossed 
my  vest  into  the  buggy. 

uAs  Swift  says,  'The  Lord  tempers  the  wind  to  the 
shorn  lamb.'  I  had  a  beautiful  match-box  which  had 
been  given  me  the  year  before  by  a  young  lady  whom  I 
had  saved  from  drowning,  while  she  was  roaming  through 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  in  it  were  the  only  dry  things 
of  all  out  belongings.  On  the  inside  of  the  safe  was  a 
place  to  strike  the  matches,  and  of  course  it  had  not  be- 
come wet.  So  I  struck  one  of  the  delicate  little  pieces  of 
wood,  fortunately  found  my  key,  opened  my  '  grip,'  where 
was  concealed  a  pint  of  whisky  (for  snake-bites),  together 


208 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


with  plenty  of  quinine.  We  each  swallowed  a  four-grain 
capsule  of  the  marvelous  drug,  and,  washing  it  down  with 
a  little  of  the  corn-juice,  rolled  ourselves  in  our  wqt 
wraps,  where  we  steamed  like  pigs  until  the  morning 
sun,  much  to  our  relief,  appeared  on  the  now  clear  hori- 
zon. 

"The  half-naked  Dick  immediately  commenced  a  vig- 
orous search  for  his  lost  garments,  and  fortunately  found 
them  lodged  in  bunches  of  willows  down  the  stream,  half 
a  mile  away,  and  he  was  as  happy  as  a  boy  with  his  first 
pair  of  boots.  His  clothes  were  saturated  with  mud,  and 
he  had  the  pleasure  of  washing  them  before  he  could  put 
them  on. 

"We  got  off  in  good  time,  notwithstanding  our  mis- 
haps. 

"  I  have  delayed  sending  the  pigeon  on  account  of  the 
storm,  but  it  now  goes. 

"  I  met  one  of  my  boys  to-day,  and  he  informs  me  that 
they  caught  another  calf  yesterday,  making  four  in  all, 
I  fear  I  am  too  late  to  capture  a  herd  of  any  size  this  sea- 
son.   Will  dispatch  another  pigeon  in  a  few  days. 

''All  well.  C.  J.  Jones." 

I  now  take  up  the  record  of  the  journal  where  I  left  it 
to  relate  the  contents  of  the  pigeon-letter.  On  that  date, 
evidently  in  the  evening,  when  in  camp,  and  work  had 
been  suspended  until  the  morrow,  Colonel  Jones  wrote  as 
follows : 

"  We  made  a  drive  of  thirty  miles  to  the  southeast  that 
day,  and  saw  eleven  buffalo  cows,  but  did  not  attempt  to 
disturb  them,  as  I  wished  to  encounter  a  much  larger 
herd  before  undertaking  to  drive  any  in.  As  I  was  turn- 
ing the  team  around  the  head  of  the  gulch,  which  is  about 
twenty  miles  above  the  headwaters  of  the  Beaver  river, 
two  large  cows  with  one  calf  accompanying  them  sud- 
denly 4  winded  '  me  and  went  scampering  over  the  prairie 
in  a  southwest  direction.    I  had  no  saddle;  neither  spurs 


EXCITING  CHASE  AFTER  A  CALF 


209 


nor  revolver.  Dick  Williams,  who  was  to  keep  near  the 
wagon,  riding  the  fast  running-horse  'Cannon  Ball,'  was 
fully  equipped  with  all  the  accoutrements  necessary  for 
such  an  occasion,  but  he  was  nowhere  in  sight.  What 
should  I  do  ?  There  was  a  calf  worth  a  thousand  dollars, 
and  all  that  I  had  to  do  was  to  catch  it.  In  an  instant  I 
was  out  of  the  wagon,  off  came  the  harness  from  one  of  the 
horses,  and  snatching  a  rope  used  to  picket  the  team  at 
night,  I  mounted  the  animal  bareback  and  was  away  like 
a  flash. 

"  By  the  time  I  had  finished  my  crude  preparations  for 
pursuing  the  animals,  they  were  at  least  half  a  mile  in 
advance.  My  horse,  only  a  buggy  animal,  knew  nothing 
whatever  of  what  was  expected  of  him  ;  he  was  as  green  as 
a  tenderfoot  on  his  initial  tour  of  the  Plains.  I  made 
him  understand,  however,  by  the  application  of  the  rope, 
that  he  was  to  get  over  the  ground  as  fast  as  his  legs  could 
carry  him.  He  became  convinced  of  this  fact  in  propor- 
tion to  the  vigor  with  which  I  laid  on  the  lashes.  In  less 
than  a  hundred  yards  away,  my  hat  went  flying  in  the 
breeze,  but  right  on  I  flew,  regardless  of  everything  but 
my  mission,  as  I  pressed  on  to  the  coveted  treasure.  Only 
a  short  distance  more  to  gain,  and  then  I  would  be  be- 
tween the  calf  and  its  mother.  The  calf  seemed  to  realize 
this  as  well  as  I,  and  the  last  hundred  yards  were  the 
hardest  to  gain  in  the  whole  race.  I  laid  on  more  of  the 
rope,  came  closer  to  the  little  brute,  which  now  began  to 
grunt  like  a  pig  waiting  for  swill.  Suddenly  the  old  cow 
stiffened  her  fore  legs,  threw  her  hinder  parts  around  in 
the  air,  and,  using  her  front  legs  as  a  pivot,  reversed  ends 
in  a  second. 

"I  took  in  the  situation  at  once,  having  been  accus- 
tomed to  such  tactics  before,  and  by  a  desperate  effort, 
crowded  in  ahead  of  the  calf,  and  bore  it  away  to  the 
northwest.  The  mother  looked  first  at  her  calf  and  my- 
self, then  at  the  other  cow,  fleeing  in  the  opposite  direc- 
-14 


210 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


tion,  when  to  my  surprise  and  delight,  she  turned  and 
resumed  her  flight  with  her  companion. 

"At  the  turn  things  had  taken  I  breathed  a  sigh  of  re- 
lief, as  I  had  no  revolver  with  which  to  protect  myself  in 
case  of  emergencies,  and  muttered,  'All  I  have  to  do  now 
is  to  catch  the  calf,'  and  paraphrasing  the  celebrated  say- 
ing of  Horace  Greeley,  '  The  way  to  resume  is  to  resume,' 
— '  the  way  to  catch  a  buffalo  calf  is  to  catch  it.' 

"  Making  a  noose  as  I  sped  along,  I  gathered  up  the 
heavy  rope  and  swung  it  over  my  head,  preparatory  to 
throwing  the  precious  circle  around  the  hoped-for  cap- 
tive's neck;  but  my  broncho  was  not  used  to  having 
anything  of  the  kind  flying  above  his  head  —  the  only 
instrument  he  was  accustomed  to  was  the  butt  end  of  a 
whip  in  the  hands  of  my  hostler,  who  often  had  knocked 
him  down  with  it  when  he  balked  in  harness. 

"You  should  have  seen  that  broncho  dodge  and  buck. 
He  was  worse  scared  than  the  game  we  were  pursuing,  and 
his  antics  gave  the  calf  an  advantage. 

"The  calf  soon  broadened  the  distance  between  us  of 
more  than  the  length  of  a  dozen  ropes.  Still,  'all  I  had 
to  do  was  to  catch  the  calf.'  It  was  '  a  ground-hog  case,' 
but  I  wTas  satisfied  that  without  saddle,  spurs,  or  proper 
lasso,  I  was  not  going  to  succeed,  and  concluded  the  best 
thing  was  to  turn  the  fleet-footed  little  rascal  down  to- 
wards the  east,  where  I  had  last  seen  Dick. 

"I  swung  my  rope  again,  but  for  a  different  purpose 
this  time,  laying  it  on  behind  me  in  such  a  vigorous  man- 
ner that  the  broncho  quickly  appreciated  what  it  meant, 
and  accordingly  got  down  to  his  work  without  any  further 
misunderstanding  between  us,  and  I  soon  had  the  calf 
turned  and  headed  in  the  right  direction. 

"We  had  already  traveled  fully  six  miles,  and  as  we 
went  lumbering  down  the  grade  I  began  to  realize  that  I 
had  no  saddle  under  me.  Yet  this  was  the  last  chance, 
probably,  to  catch  a  wild  buffalo  calf,  so  I  must  not 
grumble  at  any  of  the  contingent  inconveniences  of  the 


WILLIAMS  TO  THE  RESCUE 


211 


occasion ;  consequently  I  immediately  rose  superior  to 
my  discomforts. 

"  While  thus  cogitating,  I  presently  came  in  sight  of 
'Starvation  Peak,'  an  elevated  plateau  extending  into  the 
valley  of  the  Beaver,  and  separated  from  the  high  plains 
contiguous  to  the  river  by  a  channel  or  gulch  about  fifty 
feet  wide  and  a  hundred  feet  deep ;  its  sides  rocky,  pre- 
cipitous, and  its  top,  which  juts  out  like  a  headland,  in- 
accessible except  from  the  valley  on  the  north  of  it. 
What  the  legend  is  from  which  it  derives  its  name,  I  do 
not  know.  When  I  neared  this  strange  formation  in  the 
otherwise  relatively  smooth  elevated  country,  I  saw  Dick 
coming  to  my  relief.  He  had  seen  my  predicament 
(chasing  the  calf )  with  his  field-glass,  from  the  farther 
side  of  the.  valley,  but  in  ascending  to  intersect  me  he 
rode  up  to  the  peak,  supposing  it  was  the  great  plateau 
which  I  was  on.  He  was  not  aware  of  its  abrupt  termina- 
tion, but  pulled  up  in  time  to  save  himself  from  precipi- 
tation down  the  precipice.  For  a  few  moments  he  stood 
upon  its  awful  edge,  reminding  me,  as  I  gazed  at  him,  of 
one  of  the  bronze  equestrian  statues  which  grace  the  parks 
of  the  nation's  capital.  He  seemed  to  me  fixed  there  for 
a  quarter  of  an  hour — perhaps  it  was  not  a  single  minute  — 
when  he  wheeled  his  horse,  rode  back  to  the  point  where 
he  had  ascended,  and  then  disappeared  from  my  sight,  in 
the  valley. 

u  All  this  time  I  was  dashing  on,  nearing  opposite 
the  spot  where  I  had  seen  him  pass  out  of  my  vision,  when 
suddenly  I  saw  him  coming  up  the  ravine  as  rapidly  as 
his  horse  could  carry  him  to  intercept  me.  I  halted  on 
the  instant,  waiting  for  him  to  reach  me,  when  we  changed 
animals,  I  grasping  his  lasso  as  quickly  as  possible,  and 
away  '  Cannon  Ball '  shot  off  with  me  after  the  much- 
fatigued  calf.  My  lasso  twirled  in  the  air,  as  with  one 
desperate  throw  I  placed  it  around  the  neck  of  the  beauti- 
ful heifer  I  had  been  chasing  under  such  difficulties  all 
the  greater  portion  of  the  afternoon.    We  soon  had  it  in 


212 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


the  buggy  and  rolled  off  for  camp,  which  was  reached 
safely  at  2  o'clock  that  night. 

"  We  now  have  five  calves  running  with  our  milch  cows, 
all  doing  finely.  Our  special  artist  has  taken  some  photo- 
graphs of  them  and  the  varied  features  of  our  camp-life, 
as  well  as  places  of  interest;  but  these  I  am  sorry  I  can- 
not forward  to  you  at  this  time. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  12th  one  of  our  cowboys,  Gran- 
ville Thompson,  left  us  on  a  tour  to  the  northwest.  He 
was  to  meet  us  at  camp  the  second  night,  but  failed  to  put 
in  an  appearance.  We  retired  without  him,  knowing  he 
was  no  '  tenderfoot,'  but  perfectly  able  to  care  for  himself, 
unless  disabled  by  some  accident.  The  next  morning, 
however,  fearing  that  some  misfortune  might  have  over- 
taken him,  all  the  men  occupied  themselves  in  searching 
for  their  lost  comrade.  He  was  met  at  noon  the  next  day, 
having  been  without  food  or  shelter  for  fifty-two  hours, 
during  which  time  it  had  hailed,  rained  and  sleeted.  He 
was  very  pale,  and  nearly  dead ;  but  a  little  w^hisky,  hot 
coffee  and  some  substantial  food,  prepared  and  adminis- 
tered by  our  noble  and  trustworthy  chief  commissary,  J. 
W.  Kennedy,  soon  revived  him.  He  stated  that  he  was 
subject  to  heart  disease,  and  before  he  had  gone  twenty- 
five  miles  from  camp  the  morning  he  left  us  he  was  seized 
with  a  severe  attack  of  dizziness,  fell  from  his  horse,  and 
knew  nothing  until  late  in  the  afternoon  of  the  next  day, 
when  he  recovered,  finding  his  animal  quietly  grazing  near 
him.  He  was  so  bewildered  that  he  could  not  tell  where 
he  was,  or  how  he  came  to  be  in  such  a  position,  and  only 
by  the  sheerest  accident  struck  our  trail.  I  do  not  intend 
to  let  him  take  any  more  such  chances,  but  keep  him  close 
in,  wrhile  some  of  our  4  tenderfeet'  will  venture  out. 

44  The  pigeon  now  goes.  Each  of  us  will  throw  one  of 
our  old  shoes  after  it  for  luck.  C.  J.  J." 


LASSOING  BUFFALO  COWS 


213 


"May  16,  1889. 

"After  sending  off  my  letters  yesterday,  I  heard  there 
were  a  few  buffalo  lingering  in  the  vicinity  of  Mustang 
creek,  so  immediately  broke  camp  to  go  there. 

"  I  continue  my  journal  in  our  new  camp  on  the  Mus- 
tang, where  we  arrived  early  this  evening,  and  are  ready 
to  commence  operations  in  the  morning,  as  I  have  con- 
cluded not  to  any  longer  ignore  small  herds,  but  take  what 
comes  to  my  fortune. 

"  When  I  left  home  on  this  expedition,  I  hoped  to  find 
a  herd  of  at  least  twenty-five  or  thirty  buffalo,  and 
6  round  '  them  up  into  camp  in  a  single  drove.  But,  in- 
stead of  the  animals  being  in  herds,  we  found  they  were 
scattered  in  small  groups  of  two  or  three ;  consequently 
Ave  are  forced  to  change  our  tactics,  and  I  have  decided 
to  depend  upon  the  lasso  and  capture  each  buffalo  sepa- 
rately. To-morrow  will  decide  permanently  as  to  what 
we  can  accomplish." 

"  The  morning  of  the  18th  broke  bright  and  warm.  We 
mounted  three  of  our  strongest  and  fleetest  horses,  and 
started  out  for  the  hunt.  On  arriving  where  the  buffalo 
were,  wre  found  that  the  herd  consisted  of  only  three  cows, 
and  as  it  would  not  pay  for  the  trouble  of  driving  them, 
we  decided  to  rope  one  by  way  of  experiment. 

"  Lee  Howard  was  appointed  to  do  the  lassoing,  but  it 
was  to  be  on  the  fore  leg  only,  as  we  all  well  knew  that  to 
attempt  to  catch  a  buffalo  cow  around  the  horns  or  neck 
would  be  as  fruitless  of  results  as  to  lasso  a  locomotive 
going  at  the  rate  of  thirty  miles  an  hour.  De  Cardova, 
the  moment  Howard  had  succeeded  in  roping  the  fore  leg, 
was  to  'heel'  her  (catch  a  noose  around  the  cow's  hind 
leg ) ,  and  then  stretch  her  out  so  quickly  she  would  not 
have  time  to  gather  herself  in  her  surprise. 

"  Everything  now  ready  for  the  attack,  I  took  the  hob- 
bles, consisting  of  two  log-chains,  two  feet  long,  with  ex- 
ceedingly heavy  straps  at  the  ends,  having  strong  buckles. 


214 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


We  cautiously  maneuvered  until  within  a  hundred  and 
fifty  yards  of  the  cows,  when,  at  a  given  signal,  we  dug 
our  spurs  into  the  sides  of  the  horses  and  dashed  frantic- 
ally over  a  small  hill  which  had  hidden  the  buffalo  from 
our  view. 

"  Never  have  I  seen  buffalo  so  completely  surprised: 
they  were  absolutely  paralyzed,  standing  as  motionless  as 
if  glued  to  the  earth,  tremblingly  gazing  at  the  cyclone  of 
horses  and  dust  which  was  forced  upon  them,  until  we 
were  within  seventy-five  yards,  when  they  fled  with  that 
wonderful  energy  characteristic  of  their  species,  each  one 
leaving  an  arc  of  dirt  in  its  tracks,  one  end  beginning  at 
their  heels,  the  other  ending  in  our  mouths  and  eyes. 

"We  still  gained  on  them,  however,  handicapped  as  we 
were,  though  we  could  scarcely  see;  our  eyes  were  full  of 
water,  dirt  and  dust,  and  we  could  have  furnished  enough 
material  to  make  mud-pies  for  a  whole  kindergarten.  The 
wind,  too,  was  blowing  almost  a  gale  from  the  northwest, 
which  was  another  cause  of  hindrance  to  us,  our  bodies 
catching  its  full  force,  and  thus  acting  as  a  brake  on  the 
speed  of  the  horses.  The  buffalo  had  a  decided  advan- 
tage of  our  animals  under  such  circumstances,  as  buffalo 
always  —  unlike  deer,  elk,  and  some  other  of  the  rumi- 
nants—  run  against  the  wind. 

"Fortunately,  the  contour  of  the  country  suddenly 
changed,  and  our  game  was  compelled  to  alter  its  course, 
swerving  more  and  more  to  the  left,  thus  giving  us  the 
advantage.  We  constantly  gained  on  the  runaways,  soon 
coming  within  twenty  yards  of  them. 

"Howard  was  on  his  horse  'Charlie,'  De  Cardova,  an 
expert  roper,  on  '  Cannon  Ball,'  while  I  '  held  the  fort'  on 
'Ken  tuck.' 

"  Our  opportunity  had  now  arrived;  we  all  realized  it 
without  a  word  or  sign  from  anyone.  Howard's  lasso  be- 
gan to  swing  around  his  head ;  '  Charlie  '  appeared  to,  and 
I  really  believe  did,  intelligently  know  what  was  demanded 
of  him,  for  the  moment  he  heard  the  whiz  of  the  rope  above 


THE  CROWNING  STRUGGLE 


215 


him  he  made  a  gallant  spurt  up  to  the  cows,  which  were 
fairly  plowing  up  the  earth  in  their  efforts  to  escape. 

"  Howard  unfortunately  allowed  '  Charlie  '  to  crowd  too 
close,  and  not  being  able  to  watch  the  eyes  and  quick  mo- 
tions of  the  three  cows  at  one  time,  found  himself  in  a 
critical  condition.  One  of  the  frightened  beasts,  the  sec- 
ond cow  from  him,  on  his  right,  made  up  her  mind  that 
4  leg  bail '  would  not  any  longer  serve  her  at  this  particu- 
lar juncture,  and  acting  upon  her  decision,  dashed  fu- 
riously at  the  horse,  but  in  the  moment  lost  in  changing 
her  huge  quarters  half-way  round,  was  balked  in  her  desire 
to  disembowel  the  active  animal.  She  got  in  just  behind 
'Charlie,'  and  in  front  of  De  Cardova,  when,  seeing  she 
would  miss  her  original  mark,  she  threw  her  head  around 
and  struck  1  Charlie  '  a  well-directed  blow  with  the  side  of 
her  horn,  causing  him  to  stagger  for  a  few  steps;  yet  he 
still  dashed  bravely  on,  the  rope  whirling  in  the  air  all  the 
time. 

"I  had  about  made  up  my  mind  that  Howard  was  really 
afraid  to  throw  the  lasso  under  the  close  circumstances  in 
which  he  was  placed,  but  was  deceived ;  he  was  only  wait- 
ing to  make  a  sure  thing  of  it,  for  in  a  few  seconds  away 
went  the  rope  like  a  flash  of  lightning,  while  my  heart  al- 
ternately fluttered  between  hope  and  fear,  and  I  almost 
held  my  breath,  waiting  for  the  result. 

"No  sooner  did  the  lasso  leave  the  skilled  hands  of 
Howard,  than  '  Charley'  was  so  suddenly  stopped  that  he 
fell  back  on  his  haunches  as  if  he  were  shot.  The  rope 
had  struck  its  mark.  How  the  great  shaggy  monster 
rolled  over  and  over,  like  a  grizzly  turning  somersaults ! 
But  De  Cordova,  knowing  his  part  in  the  tragedy  full  well, 
by  a  simple  twist  of  his  right  arm  placed  his  rope  over 
her  hind  leg  as  he  swiftly  dashed  by,  before  she  could 
gain  her  equilibrium. 

"Now  for  the  crowning  struggle!  Each  horse  under- 
stood his  duty,  just  what  was  expected  of  him,  and  pulled 
back,  with  his  head  to  the  enemy,  like  a  bulldog  holding 


216 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


on  to  the  ear  of  an  antagonist  in  the  pit.  Howard  had 
caught  the  right  fore  leg  around  the  fetlock,  the  exact 
place  intended,  and  all  the  efforts  of  the  cow  to  get  on 
her  feet  were  in  vain ;  she  was  tighter  than  any  vise  could 
have  held  her. 

"It  was  now  my  turn  to  finish  the  last  act  of  the 
drama,  and  I  was  determined  not  to  be  behind  in  my 
part.  I  slid  off  of  £  Kentuck,'  but  took  care  to  hold  fast  to 
the  rope,  one  end  of  which  was  tied  around  his  neck ;  and 
as  I  approached  the  cow,  the  vicious  beast  grew  more  des- 
perate than  ever  in  her  rage;*  acting  as  if  she  were  a  car- 
nivorous animal  and  wanted  to  devour  me.  She  struck 
at  me  with  her  horns  until  her  ribs  rattled,  as  her  head 
pounded  her  sides  in  her  fruitless  efforts  to  reach  me ; 
then  she  used  her  loose  foot,  kicking  and  striking  until 
she  was  actually  exhausted.  I  finally  buckled  the  hobble 
on  her  loose  front  leg,  but  could  not  manage  to  get  it  on 
the  hind  one;  so  I  took  my  lasso,  threw  it  around  the 
hind  leg,  ran  the  rope  through  the  ring  of  the  chain  next 
to  the  fore  leg,  drew  the  two  near  together,  and  fastened 
them  in  that  position.  I  then  had  no  difficulty  in  adjust- 
ing the  hobbles  firmly.  Now  everything  was  ready  to 
turn  her  loose. 

"As  soon  as  the  horses  commenced  to  slacken  the  ropes, 
she  would  begin  to  struggle.  I  gave  the  order  for  both  of 
the  men  to  detach  the  ropes  from  their  saddles  at  the 
same  instant,  but  was  very  careful  myself  to  be  mounted 
on  1  Kentuck '  before  giving  the  signal  to  put  my  order 
into  execution. 

"  The  ropes  slackened,  she  was  on  her  feet  in  a  moment, 
with  back  bowed,  tail  curled  over  her  back,  nose  almost 
touching  the  ground,  hair  all  bristling  in  her  rage,  eyes 
green  as  goggles, — in  short,  the  very  incarnation  of  fight 
to  the  death  I  She  made  all  sorts  of  attempts  to  charge 
upon  us,  but  would  only  tumble  for  her  pains ;  and  when 
she  tried  to  run,  the  only  effect  was  to  shake  the  ropes  off 
her  feet, —  which  was  just  what  we  desired,  only  the  boys 


A  HORSE-THIEF  WHO  WAS   "  MISSED  "  217 

had  to  ride  forward  and  pick  them  off  the  ground  without 
dismounting. 

"We  watched  her  a  few  moments,  then  bade  her  fare- 
well for  a  few  days  and  returned  to  our  camp,  where  we 
discussed  the  advisability  of  hobbling,  instead  of  driving 
the  remainder  of  the  buffaloes  into  captivity. 

"I  concluded  to  try  this  plan  at  all  events,  and  sent 
out  my  assistants  in  different  directions  to  reconnoiter 
for  the  whereabouts  of  the  last  herd,  which  did  not  ex- 
ceed twenty-five  in  number.  I  gave  them  orders  to  re- 
turn next  day,  knowing  that  some  of  the  party  would 
surely  find  the  buffalo  by  that  time,  as  there  were  but 
four  places  where  they  could  water,  and  they  would  leave 
their  tracks  where  they  had  been  to  drink  recently. 

"My  brother  Henry  was  left  to  guard  the  home  camp, 
and  take  care  of  the  calves  already  caught.  He  was  a 
man  of  varied  experience,  both  on  the  Plains  and  in  civil- 
ized life ;  having  been  marshal  of  several  large  cities  in 
Illinois,  a  conductor  on  one  of  the  great  trunk  rail- 
roads, and  had  also  served  with  success  as  a  private  de- 
tective. I  had  therefore  no  hesitation  in  leaving  him  in 
charge,  although  we  knew  that  many  horse-thieves  and 
cutthroats  were  lurking  in  the  vicinity,  and  it  required  a 
man  of  nerve  to  assume  the  grave  responsibility.  I  had 
loaned  one  of  my  teams  to  the  sheriff  of  Haskell  county, 
Kansas,  who  said  he  was  pursuing  a  horse-thief.  He  re- 
turned in  a  few  days  with  the  stolen  animals,  but  the  thief 
was  missing,  and  it  was  generally  understood  and  believed 
that  the  officer  had  killed  him  and  left  his  bones  to  bleach 
somewhere  on  the  Staked  Plains.  I  also  learned  that  the 
alleged  thief  was  merely  trying  to  get  out  of  the  country,  to 
prevent  a  money-loaner  from  taking  his  only  team  by  virtue 
of  a  chattel  mortgage  he  held  on  them ;  also,  that  he  was 
in  possession  of  several  hundred  dollars  when  he  left  home, 
which  should  have  liquidated  the  debt.  If  we  had  been 
informed  of  the  real  facts,  my  own  team  would  have  had 


218 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


more  flesh  on  its  bones,  and  the  unfortunate  man  still  be 
alive. 

" After  we  had  gone  on  our  search  for  the  herd  of  buf- 
falo, at  sundown  of  that  day,  three  of  the  most  desperate 
characters  that  ever  infested  the  region  rode  up  to  camp, 
alighted  from  three  most  magnificent  animals,  and  told 
my  brother  they  desired  to  put  up  with  him  that  night. 
He  was  well  posted,  and  spotted  the  fellows  at  once ;  the 
leader  being  easily  recognized  by  the  absence  of  one  fin- 
ger, which  had  been  shot  off  some  years  before,  and  he 
was  known  by  the  name  of  'Three-finger  Jack.'  My 
brother  could  do  nothing  but  treat  them  as  gentlemen, 
and  permit  them  to  have  their  own  way.  He  prepared  an 
excellent  supper,  from  the  best  articles  in  camp :  buffalo- 
steak,  antelope,  potatoes,  bread,  butter,  and  a  variety  of 
canned  goods. 

"There  were  two  apartments  to  the  dugout,  and  my 
brother  invited  them  to  sleep  in  the  inner  room,  to  which 
they  strenuously  objected,  however,  declaring  they  wanted 
to  be  near  the  door  in  case  anything  happened  to  their 
horses.  All  three  carried  a  Winchester  each,  and  two 
large  revolvers,  and  slept  with  them  at  their  sides. 

"Henry  was  compelled  to  occupy  the  inner  room,  but 
was  careful  to  bar  the  door.  He  had  recently  returned 
from  the  East,  and  had  brought  with  him  a  very  fine  pair 
of  trousers,  which  hung  upon  a  nail  in  the  apartment  oc- 
cupied by  the  desperadoes.  In  the  morning  the  trousers 
were  missing ;  but  he  went  right  ahead  to  get  a  nice 
breakfast,  saying  nothing  until  the  men  had  finished. 
Then  he  said: 

"  4  Boys,  I  have  tried  to  treat  you  as  nicely  as  I  know 
how;  now  won't  you  please  leave  my  trousers,  as  I  cer- 
tainly shall  need  them  before  I  can  reach  any  place  where 
I  can  procure  another  pair.' 

"In  a  moment  everything  was  as  quiet  as  the  grave  v  At 
last  one  of  the  men  spoke  up,  and  said : 


AWAITING  THE  LAST  OPPORTUNITY  FOR  A  CALF,  ON  JUBAR. 


CAPTURE  OF  THE  LAST  CALF 


219 


"  'We  haven't  got  your  pants.  What's  the  matter 
with  you  ?  ' 

"'Yes,'  answered  my  brother;  'this  gentleman  has 
them  on  under  his  overalls,  as  is  plainly  seen.' 

"Then  spoke  the  accused : 

"  '  Well,  what  are  you  going  to  do  about  it  ?  ' 

"  4 1  can  do  nothing,  of  course,'  answered  my  brother; 
'but  I  consider  you  no  gentleman,  after  being  cared  for 
as  you  have  been,  to  deliberately  steal  my  pants. 

"  'Then  come  and  take  them,'  replied  the  other,  as  he 
placed  his  hand  on  his  revolver. 

"My  brother  didn't  want  them  just  then,  nor  has  he 
at  any  time  since  ! 

"While  out  making  calculations  for  the  grand  drive  of 
the  last  herd,  I  saw  a  cow  and  calf  coming  from  beyond 
a  low  ridge ;  I  quickly  dropped  down  on  my  horse,  'Jubar,' 
whirled  him  about,  ran  back  a  few  rods,  and  awaited  the 
last  opportunity  for  a  buffalo  calf. 

"The  cow  came  moping  over  the  divide,  and  failed  to 
notice  me,  as  my  horse  understood  his  part  of  the  pro- 
gram, and  never  moved.  When  within  a  hundred  yards, 
the  calf  gave  a  grunt,  which  I  recognized  as  an  indication 
that  it  had  discovered  my  presence.  The  cow  whirled 
around,  and  started  off  at  a  terrific  speed,  and  as  the  calf 
was  a  large  one  it  held  its  place  close  to  her  shaggy  side. 
All  I  had  to  do  was  to  give  'Jubar'  the  rein,  and  he  did 
the  rest.  Within  half  a  mile  he  overtook  the  fleeing 
objects,  and  as  I  whirled  the  lasso  in  the  air,  the  cow 
made  an  extra  effort,  leaving  the  calf  a  few  feet  behind. 
It  was  just  what  was  needed,  and  I  laid  the  golden  wreath 
around  the  neck  of  the  last  buffalo  calf  ever  captured, 

"And  here  (though  I  dimly  realized  it  at  the  time) 
the  curtain  fell,  the  lights  were  out.  The  drama  had 
been  played  for  the  last  time,  and  the  curtain  will  never 
again  be  rung  up. 


220 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


"  After  establishing  camp  on  the  headwaters  of  the 
Paladura,  we  all  went  out  to  reconnoiter  the  whereabouts 
of  the  last  herd.  In  the  evening,  De  Cordova  reported 
having  discovered  twenty  cows  and  one  bull  about  eight 
miles  from  camp.  The  next  morning,  after  an  under- 
standing or  code  of  signals  and  orders  of  operation  had 
been  written  out  by  me,  the  signal  was  given  to  move. 
Mr.  Howard  had  command,  and  was  to  follow  the  herd, 
'  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,'  if  necessary.  The  company  was 
never  to  lose  sight  of  them,  day  or  night,  if  it  could  be 
prevented.  Should  the  herd  escape  during  the  night, 
bloodhounds  were  to  be  put  on  its  trail  until  the  buffalo 
were  overtaken ;  but  resort  to  this  method  must  not  be 
had  if  by  other  means  it  could  be  avoided. 

"  Those  in  camp  were  always  to  keep  watch  from  a  high 
butte  by  day  and  by  night,  and  like  the  devoted  Aztecs, 
who  keep  the  fire  glowing  for  the  return  of  Montezuma, 
so  the  watchman  was  to  always  keep  a  beacon-fire  on  the 
summit  and  watch  for  signals. 

"  When  the  drivers  of  the  herd  were  sighted,  the  reserve 
at  camp  was  to  go  immediately  with  fresh  men  and 
horses  to  relieve  those  who  had  been  on  the  drive.  Never 
was  there  more  systematic  organization. 

"  Everything  ready,  Howard  with  one  other  man  started 
twenty-two  full-grown  buffaloes, —  twenty-one  cows  and 
heifers,  and  one  bull.  The  bull  had  been  wounded,  and 
on  the  second  day  became  so  lame  that  he  dropped  out  of 
the  herd. 

"A  light  rain  fell  the  night  before  starting  them,  and 
the  weather  was  favorable,  the  recent  rains  making  it  easy 
to  track  the  animals,  which  was  necessary  in  the  morn- 
ings, after  the  shades  of  night  had  vanished. 

"  The  buffalo  at  first  endeavored  to  shake  off  their  pur- 
suers, especially  at  night,  but  by  ten  o'clock  the  next  day 
they  were  sure  to  be  overtaken.  They  invariably  held 
a  straight  general  course ;  therefore  the  tracks  could  be 
easily  followed,  while  the  pursuers'  horses  could  take  a 


DRIVING  THE  BUFFALOES 


221 


•swinging  trot.  When  first  sighted  the  herd  would  go  '  all 
to  pieces,'  but  by  proper  strategy  and  even  movements  on 
our  part,  would  soon  come  together. 

"It  was  the  fourth  day  before  the  camp  was  sighted. 
Men,  team,  and  saddle-horses  were  in  a  deplorable  condi- 
tion. Only  one  water-hole  had  been  found,  and  had  it  not 
been  for  the  water  carried  in  a  barrel,  the  pursuit  must 
have  been  abandoned.  During  the  first  three  days'  drive 
the  herd  avoided  water  altogether,  which  shows  their  en- 
durance on  the  desert  to  be  equal  to  that  of  the  camel,  and 
their  capacity  for  ranging  a  great  distance  from  water  to 
be  unprecedented. 

"  When  camp  was  reached,  Howard,  like  a  true  veteran 
soldier,  refused  a  furlough,  and  joined  the  relief  for  an- 
other trial.  To  be  sure,  it  was  a  great  relief  to  him  to  se- 
cure a  fresh  man  and  team,  as  he  could  sleep  in  the  spring 
wagon  as  it  wended  its  way  over  the  Plains.  It  was 
agreed  that  Mr.  Howard  should  remain  with  the  herd 
until  I  should  call  a  halt." 

Now,  as  the  animals  had  become  somewhat  tractable 
and  could  be  turned  in  almost  any  direction,  Colonel 
Jones,  having  urgent  business  at  home,  took  a  saddle- 
horse  and  began  his  wearisome  journey  to  Garden  City. 

It  is  claimed  that  Napoleon,  after  laying  out  his  plans 
of  battle  and  giving  his  generals  minute  orders  of  opera- 
tion, would  invariably  lie  down  and  take  a  nap,  until  the 
victory  was  won.  Not  so  with  the  Colonel.  He  con- 
cluded his  business  the  day  after  reaching  home,  and 
then  organized  another  expedition,  separated  twenty-five 
of  the  domesticated  buffalo  from  the  cattle  on  his  ranch, 
and  drove  them  over  200  miles  to  the  main  camp  in  Texas. 
The  next  morning  after  arriving  there,  he  dispatched  a 
messenger  on  a  fresh  horse,  with  orders  to  Mr.  Howard  to 
drive  in  the  twenty-one  buffalo,  which  he  had  now  well  un- 
der control.  The  order  was  promptly  complied  with,  and 
the  third  day  the  two  herds  were  introduced  to  each  other 


222 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


near  the  camp  in  a  ceremonious  and  fitting  way.  They 
all  appeared  to  enjoy  the  occasion  as  much  as  if  they  had 
been  exiles  and  had  reunited  on  their  native  soil.  The 
herd  was  then  started  for  the  Colonel's  ranch  at  Garden 
City,  but  as  soon  as  the  wild  buffalo  reached  the  limit  of 
their  sequestered  range  they  sniffed  the  air,  turned  "  tail 
to,"  and  made  a  straight  line  for  their  familiar  haunts. 
All  the  cowboys  on  earth  could  not  have  turned  or  checked 
their  pace;  neither  would  they  be  circled  off  their  course, 
as  they  would  have  run  under  the  horses  had  they  not 
moved  aside  and  let  them  pass.  Had  there  been  any  ma- 
terial in  that  region  with  which  to  build  corrals  and  fence 
pastures,  there  would  have  been  no  trouble  in  saving  this, 
the  last  little  band  of  American  bison  on  the  great  south- 
ern plains  of  North  America. 

When  Mr.  Howard  made  his  report,  among  other  things 
he  said : 

"We  started  the  buffaloes,  and  followed  them  contin- 
ually day  and  night  for  forty-two  days,  changing  horses 
about  twenty  times.  The  buffalo  became  very  thin  and 
footsore,  and  seemed  so  lame  they  could  scarcely  walk, 
yet  would  not  allow  us  to  approach  nearer  than  two  hun- 
dred feet,  when  they  would  start  off  and  run  with  as  much 
alacrity  as  though  nothing  was  the  matter  with  them. 
Often  we  could  trail  them  for  miles  by  the  blood  left  in 
their  tracks." 

Colonel  Jones  further  says : 

"  I  determined  to  single  out,  lasso  and  hobble  them,  as 
we  had  done  with  the  cow  previously  (although  it  had 
died  of  a  'broken  heart').  We  finally  succeeded  in  ac- 
complishing this,  employing  the  same  tactics  as  before. 
Mr.  Howard  was  always  depended  upon  to  make  the  first 
catch  ;  he  seldom  miscalculated,  and  nearly  always  caught 
with  the  first  attempt.  We  captured  all  except  four,  but 
one-half  died  within  twenty-four  hours  after  being  hob- 
bled.    They  usually  took  fits,  stiffened  themselves,  then 


RECORDED  IN  HISTORY  223 

dropped  dead,  apparently  preferring  death  to  captivity. 
It  appeared  to  me  they  had  the  power  to  abstain  from 
breathing. 

"We  worried  along  with  the  remainder,  but  they 
eventually  died  before  arriving  at  my  ranch  in  Kansas. 
We  were  fortunate  enough  to  bring  seven  calves  safely 
in,  all  of  which  lived,  and  helped  to  materially  swell  the 
herd." 

The  great  historian,  T.  C.  Hornaday,  Superintendent  of 
the  Taxidermical  'Department  of  the  Smithsonian  Insti- 
tution, in  the  year  1887  was  commissioned  by  the  U.S. 
Government  to  capture,  alive,  a  lot  of  buffalo  calves  for 
the  purpose  of  perpetuating  the  species  in  the  National 
Park  at  Washington,  D.  C.  He  made  a  trip  to  Montana, 
but  failed  to  save  a  single  specimen ;  and  thus  came  to 
realize  how  difficult  an  undertaking  was  the  capture  of 
the  buffalo.  In  his  report  to  the  second  session  of  the 
Fiftieth  Congress,  among  other  things  he  said: 

"Mr.  Jones's  original  herd  of  fifty-seven  buffaloes  con- 
stitutes a  living  testimonial  of  his  individual  enterprise, 
courage,  endurance  and  skill  in  the  chase.  The  majority 
of  the  individuals  comprising  the  herd,  he  himself  ran 
down,  lassoed  and  tied  with  his  own  hands.  It  was  the 
greatest  feat  ever  accomplished. 

44  For  five  consecutive  years,  Colonel  Jones,  made  an  an- 
nual trip  to  the  uninhabited  and  desolate  4  Panhandle '  of 
Texas,  to  secure  buffalo  calves  out  of  the  small  herd  of 
one  or  two  hundred  head,  which  represented  the  last  rem- 
nant of  the  vast  number  of  buffalo  that  formerly  roamed 
in  the  extensive  region  south  of  the  Canadian.  Each  of 
these  expeditions  involved  an  expenditure  of  money,  and 
an  elaborate  'outfit'  of  men,  means  of  transportation, 
camp  equipage,  and  other  paraphernalia  necessary  to  the 
successful  result  of  the  perilous  undertaking. 

"Perhaps  the  most  expensive  and  critical  adjunct  to 
the  appointments  was  the  herd  of  from  a  dozen  to  forty 


224 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


fresh  milk  cows,  which  had  to  be  taken  along  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  captured  calves.  Without  such  natural  nour- 
ishment they  would  have  died  of  starvation. 

1 1  The  country  so  often  visited  by  Colonel  Jones  wa& 
sterile,  barren,  desolate,  and  almost  devoid  of  water.  It 
may  well  be  imagined,  therefore,  that  to  enter  its  desert- 
like area  was  a  task  that  the  majority  of  men  would  nat- 
urally shrink  from,  attended  as  it  was  with  a  constant 
struggle  against  the  hardships  incident  to  such  a  wilder- 
ness. The  few  buffalo  remaining  were  exceedingly  wary, 
and  difficult  was  the  labor  of  finding  them.  The  ground 
of  the  region,  however,  was  admirably  adapted  for  run- 
ning them,  consisting  chiefly  of  level  prairie,  giving  the 
horses  employed  by  the  hunter  an  advantage,  and  he  ex- 
perienced no  trouble  in  overtaking  a  herd  whenever  it  was 
sighted,  or  in  being  able  to  '  cut  out '  and  lasso  the  little 
animals  he  had  come  so  far  to  capture. 

"The  skill  and  daring  displayed  in  the  several  expe- 
ditions by  Colonel  Jones  and  his  confreres  excites  the 
wonder  and  admiration  of  the  reader,  and  far  exceeds 
anything  that  has  ever  before  been  experienced  in  hunt- 
ing wild  game  for  the  purpose  of  capturing  it  alive.  Some 
of  the  results  of  Colonel  Jones's  expeditions  seem  incredi- 
ble. During  the  month  of  May,  1889,  he  with  his  party 
not  only  captured  seven  calves,  but  also  eleven  full-grown 
cows,  of  which  latter,  many  were  lassoed  while  rushing  in 
their  maddened  speed  over  the  prairie,  then  thrown  and 
hobbled,  and  all  in  a  shorter  space  of  time  than  it  re- 
quires to  tell  it.  Others  were  actually  'rounded  up/ 
herded,  and  held  in  control  until  a  bunch  of  tame  buffalo 
was  driven  out  to  meet  them,  thus  making  it  possible  to 
get  them  all  to  the  ranch.  This  was  a  remarkably  bril- 
liant feat,  and  can  be  properly  appreciated  only  by  those 
who  have  themselves  endeavored  to  capture  the  buffalo, 
and  know  by  experience  how  difficult  the  task,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  extreme  danger  in  an  undertaking  of  this 
character.  T.  C.  Hornaday." 


CHAPTER  XIV 


BUFFALO  ON  THE  WATER 

BOUND  FOR  THE  OLD  WORLD  —  LOADING  BUFFALO  ON  A  VES- 
SEL—  BIG  SHOW  WITHOUT  AN  AUDIENCE  —  ANIMALS  SEA- 
SICK IN  A  STORM  —  CAUSE  A  SENSATION  IN  LIVERPOOL  

INVITATION  TO  VISIT  HIS  ROYAL  HIGHNESS  THE  PRINCE 
OF  WALES  —  HE  ACCEPTS  A  ROBE,  MADE  OF  BUFFALO  FUR, 
FROM  COLONEL  JONES. 

[Extracts  from  Colonel  Jones's  Journal,  1891.] 

AT  McCook,  Nebraska,  September  28th,  1891,  as  the 
sun  poured  down  its  fiercest  rays,  I  was  busily 
L  engaged  in  pitching  a  load  of  hay  into  the  mow  of 
a  barn.  I  paused  to  wipe  the  perspiration  from 
my  face.  Just  then  a  small  boy  looked  up  at  me  and 
said,  "Is  your  name  Jones?"  "Unfortunately,  it  is," 
was  my  reply.  I  lowered  my  fork  and  he  stuck  an  en- 
velope on  the  tines,  which  I  raised  up  and  opened.  It  was 
a  cablegram,  and  read  as  follows : 

"  Liverpool,  England,  September  28, 1891.—  C.  J.  Jones,  McCook, 
Nebraska:  Proposition  accepted.  Ship  at  once.  Letter,  N.  Y., 
care  Cunard  line.  Webster. 37 

The  proposition  referred  to  was  one  I  had  made  two 
weeks  previously  to  A.  M.  Webster,  manager  for  C.  J. 
Leland,  a  wealthy  English  nobleman,  offering  to  deliver 
at  Liverpool  ten  full-grown  buffaloes,  for  a  certain  con- 
sideration. The  news  was  joyful,  as  the  price  was  a 
fabulous  one. 

—  15  (  225) 


226 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


Mr.  Wayne  Boor  was  in  the  mow  lugging  the  hay  back, 
and  was  nearly  smothered.  I  called  him  to  the  window 
and  asked  him  how  he  would  like  a  trip  to  England.  He 
looked  dumbfounded,  and  stared  at  me  fully  a  minute 
without  speaking,  and  then  not  until  I  had  explained 
more  fully.  I  told  him  as  he  had  been  with  me  five  long 
years,  had  been  so  faithful,  and  needed  a  rest,  I  would 
give  him  a  tour  of  the  Old  World  free.  "  It  is  more  than 
I  ever  dreamed  of,"  was  his  response.  He  could  not  pitch 
any  more  hay,  but  acted  like  a  small  boy  who  had  never 
been  anywhere,  just  before  going  to  his  first  circus.  The 
next  day  we  took  a  coil  of  rope  to  the  corral.  I  saddled 
"Jubar,"  my  faithful  horse,  which  had  never  failed  me 
in  time  of  need.  Mr.  Boor  was  mounted  on  a  good 
steed,  and  with  a  cowboy,  Frank  Smith,  we  commenced 
the  lassoing  and  corraling  of  the  ten  buffaloes.  They 
were  fat  and  rollicky,  but  by  desperate  riding  and  expert 
lassoing  we  soon  had  ropes  on  the  ten  desired,  and  in  the 
corral.  I  then  had  them  and  a  portion  of  the  herd  photo- 
graphed; the  illustration  will  be  found  on  another  page. 
The  animals  with  ropes  around  their  necks  are  the  ones 
which  went  abroad. 

On  the  19th  of  October,  1891,  I  loaded  five  pairs  of  my 
finest  full-blooded  bisons  on  board  a  palace  stock-car, 
at  McCook,  Nebraska, —  the  animals  destined  for  Liver- 
pool. Accompanied  by  Mr.  F.  W.  Boor,  I  left  home  to 
take  them  over  the  mighty  deep.  Everything  worked 
admirably,  and  at  the  end  of  a  week  the  car  was  safely 
run  onto  the  White  Star  Steamship  Company's  docks  in 
New  York  city.  Then  the  question  was,  how  to  get  the 
shaggy  beasts  on  board  that  great  monarch  of  the  seas, 
the  "  Runic."  Gangways  without  sideboards  at  least  six 
feet  high,  were  of  no  use.  Finally,  such  a  gangway  was 
procured,  and  the  buffalo  taken  from  the  car,  one  by  one. 
To  avoid  the  crowd  that  would  naturally  gather  upon  such 
an  occasion,  the  labor  of  transferring  the  buffalo  to  the 
steamship  was  commenced  about  4  o'clock  in  the  morn- 


BOUND  FOR  THE   OLD  WORLD 


227 


ing,  while  all  was  quiet  and  no  loungers  about.  The  glare 
of  the  electric  lights  on  the  dock  set  the  bewildered 
beasts  fairly  wild  with  excitement,  and  one  of  the  best 
"shows  "of  the  season,  without  much  of  an  audience, 
was  played  around  and  among  the  thousands  of  boxes, 
cotton-bales  and  packages  of  every  description,  lying  on 
the  dock  awaiting  shipment.  One  monstrous  bull  had 
apparently  concluded  he  required  more  music ;  so  he 
mounted  a  piano-box,  and  thrust  one  foot  down  through 
it.  The  keys  he  struck  gave  notice  to  all  that  he  had  got- 
ten up  to  "G."  The  next  animal  climbed  nine  points 
higher  in  the  scale;  while  the  last  off  the  car  broke  his 
rope  and  ran  frantically  over  everything  that  chanced  to 
be  in  his  course,  for  fully  an  hour.  By  that  time  I  had 
procured  a  lasso,  thrown  it  over  the  obstreperous  brute's 
neck,  and  he  was  quickly  hauled  up  the  gangway  to  his 
proper  place. 

All  were  on  board,  and  everything  ready  for  the  novel 
voyage  at  high  noon,  the  27th,  at  which  moment  the  ves- 
sel steamed  out  "into  the  river,  and  away  for  Sandy  Hook, 
twenty-five  miles  distant.  Arriving  at  this  point,  the 
pilot  was  lowered  to  a  little  skiff  awaiting  him,  and  the 
Runic  again  started  for  her  proper  element,  the  deep  sea. 
The  Runic  was  then  one  of  the  largest  and  fastest  freight 
steamers  crossing  the  Atlantic. 

The  Runic's  cargo  on  this  trip  comprised  one  hundred 
thousand  bushels  of  wheat,  hundreds  of  bales  of  cotton, 
two  hundred*  and  seventy-eight  head  of  fine  bullocks  for 
the  English  market,  besides  a  great  variety  of  other  valu- 
able articles.  All  went  smoothly  the  first  afternoon  and 
night  out,  but  the  next  morning,  the  28th  of  October,  the 
wind  blew  a  stiff  gale  from  the  north,  which  made  most 
of  the  "  tenderfeet"  (or  in  this  sense  those  unused  to  the 
sea)  dreadfully  sick,  affecting  even  the  buffalo  in  the  same 
manner;  besides,  the  waves  had  rolled  over  their  sheds, 
causing  them  to  shiver  with  cold.  And  as  I  climbed  along 
the  pens  that  morning,  to  examine  into  the  condition  of 


228 


FORTY  YEARS  OF  ADVENTURES 


my  valuable  pets,  a  mighty  wave  dashed  over  the  vessel, 
nearly  strangling  me.  I  finally  managed  to  reach  the  an- 
imals and  locate  them;  found  them  all  alive,  but  more 
than  half  their  number  as  sick  as  some  of  the  passen- 
gers in  the  cabin.  The  great  beasts  would  lie  stupid, 
grate  their  teeth,  and  rest  their  noses  on  the  deck.  Their 
eyes  were  sunken  and  dim,  showing  the  extent  of  their  suf- 
fering; a  really  pitiable  sight.  The  captain  was  very 
attentive  and  kind  to  the  poor  animals ;  he  ordered  the 
sailors  to  cover  their  sheds  with  tarpaulins,  to  protect 
them  from  the  spray  which  was  continually  flying  over 
them  with  its  freezing  coldness.  This  continued  for  four 
days,  when  the  storm  culminated  in  a  furious  gale,  toss- 
ing the  goodly  ship  about  like  a  cork  on  a  mill-pond. 
At  times  the  buffalo  were  mid-sides  in  the  sea,  as  the  wa- 
ter occasionally  rolled  upon  the  deck.  Yet  they  endured 
this  better  than  their  experience  of  the  second  day,  as 
they  had  now  recovered  from  their  dreadful  sickness,  and 
were  taking  their  food  with  a  relish. 

On  landing  at  Liverpool  there  were  a  half-dozen  artists 
waiting  to  sketch  the  animals,  and  the  next  morning  all 
the  leading  journals  of  London  were  decorated  with  pen- 
pictures  of  what  they  termed  "The  Buffalo  King  and 
some  of  his  subjects." 

After  delivering  the  buffaloes,  Mr.  Boor  and  I  spent  a 
week  in  London,  ten  days  in  Paris,  three  days  in  Glas- 
gow, and  then  returned  to  London,  where  I  received  many 
invitations  to  be  entertained  and  dined  with  the  royalty 
and  other  dignitaries,  among  whom  was  Sir  Walter  Gil- 
bey,  President  of  the  Agricultural  and  Fat  Stock  Associa- 
tion of  the  British  Isles.  Through  him  I  received  an 
invitation  from  the  Prince  of  Wales  to  visit  his  Royal 
Highness  on  the  following  Thursday.  Sir  Walter  was 
to  accompany  me,  but  as  I  had  already  purchased  my 
steamer-ticket  for  New  York,  and  as  urgent  business  was 
awaiting  me  there,  I  folded  up  two  beautiful  rugs,  woven 
from  the  fur  of  the  buffalo,  and  sent  one  each  to  Sir  Wal- 


HIS  ROYAL  HIGHNESS  THE  PRINCE  OF  WALES. 


LETTERS  OF  ACKNOWLEDGMENT 


229 


ter  and  the  Prince ;  also  some  pictures  of  my  herd  of  buf- 
falo at  home,  together  with  letters  of  regret  and  the 
reasons  why  I  could  not  comply  with  their  requests.  I 
saw  Sir  Walter  Gilbey  afterward,  and  he  assured  me  it 
was  useless  to  send  the  robe  to  the  Prince  of  Wales,  as  it 
would  be  against  all  precedent  for  him  to  accept  a  pres- 
ent from  anyone  outside  the  royal  family.  A  few  weeks 
after  reaching  home,  however,  I  received  the  following 

letters  :  [Letter  from  Sir  Walter  Gilbey.] 

Elsenham  Hall, 
Essex,  1st  January,  1892. 
C.  J.  Jones,  Esq. —  My  Dear  Sir:  I  have  heard  from  Sir  Dighton 
Probyn  that  the  Prince  of  Wales  accepts,  with  pleasure,  the  beau- 
tiful buffalo  robe  which  you  left  in  my  charge,  to  offer  to  his  Eoyal 
Highness.  You  will,  I  have  no  doubt,  in  due  course  receive  a 
proper  acknowledgment  of  the  same. 

The  elegant  robe  which  you  so  kindly  presented  to  me  has 
proved  most  useful.  After  three  severe  attacks  of  influenza,  cold 
weather  affects  me,  and  the  warmth  of  your  kind  present,  during 
the  past  month,  has  added  greatly  to  my  comfort. 

Accept  my  sincere  wish  that  you  may  have  health  and  happi- 
ness this  New  Year.  Yours  very  truly, 

(  Signed  )    Walter  Gilbey. 

[Letter  from  his  Royal  Highness  the  Prince  of  Wales.] 

Sandringham, 
Norfolk,  30th  Dec.  '91. 
My  Dear  Sir  :  I  am  directed  by  the  Prince  of  Wales  to  thank 
you  for  your  letter  of  the  8th  instant,  forwarded  through  Sir  Wal- 
ter Gilbey,  and  for  the  handsome  rug  which  you  sent  for  his  Eoyal 
Highnesses  acceptance,  and  which  the  Prince  accepts  with  much 
pleasure. 

The  Prince  has  always  taken  the  greatest  interest  in  the  Amer- 
ican buffalo,  and  agrees  with  you  in  regretting  the  wantonness  of 
the  slayers  of  such  a  noble  race. 

His  Eoyal  Highness  wishes  you  every  success  in  the  efforts  you 
are  making  to  reproduce  this  almost  extinct  race  of  animals. 

I  am  also  desired  to  thank  you  for  the  photograph  which  you 
have  sent  to  his  Eoyal  Highness. 

I  remain,  my  dear  sir, 

Truly  yours, 

(Signed)   D.  M.  Probyn, 
General  Comptroller  and  Treasurer, 


CHAPTER  XV 


LAST  OF  THE  BUFFALO 

LIKE  PEOPLE,  THEY  BELONG  TO  MANY  DISTINCT  FAMILIES  

THEY    ORGANIZE    LIKE   AN  ARMY  HOW   THE   HERD  WAS 

LOCATED  BUFFALO  STAMPEDE  EQUALED  A  CYCLONE  THE 

CAUSE    AND    RESULTS  A    MOST    GRAPHIC  DESCRIPTION, 

BY  ONE  WHO  KNOWS  ONLY  METHOD  OF  ESCAPE  CAN- 
ADA'S LAST  HERD  CAPTURED  BY  COLONEL  JONES  ATTEN- 
TION TURNED  TO  CAPTURING  MOOSE  —  SUCCESSFUL  HUNT  IN 

MANITOBA.  CATALO  —  PROGRESS  IN  CROSS-BREEDING  — 

DESCRIPTION  AND  HABITS  OF  THE  NEW  RACE  OF  CATTLE  

THRIVE  WITHOUT  ARTIFICIAL  FOOD  OR  SHELTER  HARDY 

AND  FERTILE  ROBES  AS  HANDSOME  AS  BEAVER-SKINS. 

A GREAT  herd  of  buffalo  on  the  Plains  in  the  early- 
days,  when  one  could  approach  near  enough  with- 
out disturbing  it,  to  quietly  watch  its  organiza- 
tion and  the  discipline  which  its  leaders  appeared 
to  exact,  was  one  of  the  most  interesting  objects  ever  wit- 
nessed. One  of  the  striking  features  of  the  spectacle  was 
the  apparently  uniform  manner  in  which  the  immense 
mass  of  shaggy  animals  moved.  There  was  a  constancy 
of  action  indicating  a  degree  of  intelligence  to  be  found 
only  in  the  most  brainy  of  the  brute  creation. 

In  the  event  of  a  "stampede,"  every  animal  of  the 
separate  yet  consolidated  herds  rushed  away  together,  as 
if  they  had  turned  mad  at  once ;  for  the  buffalo,  like  the 
Texas  steer  or  wild  horse,  stampeded  on  the  slightest 
provocation — frequently  without  any  assignable  cause. 

f  230 ) 


ORGANIZED  LIKE  AN  ARMY 


231 


Like  an  army,  a  herd  of  buffalo  always  put  out  its 
vedettes  to  give  warning  in  case  anything  beyond  the  ordi- 
nary happened.  The  sentinels  were  always  to  be  seen  in 
groups  of  four,  five,  or  ten,  sometimes  even  twenty  miles 
distant  from  the  main  body.  They  were  invariably  old 
bulls  that  had  been  whipped  out.  When  they  were  ap- 
prised that  something  was  approaching  that  the  herd 
should  get  away  from,  they  ran  directly  to  the  center  of 
the  great  mass  of  their  peacefully  grazing  congeners.  (  A 
good  hunter  always  knew  where  the  main  herd  was  by 
the  direction  in  which  the  guards  ran.)  Meanwhile, 
the  young  bulls,  also  on  duty  as  sentinels  on  the  edge  of 
the  main  herd,  watching  the  vedettes,  the  moment  the  lat- 
ter moved  on  a  lope  for  the  center,  raised  their  heads,  and 
in  the  peculiar  manner  of  their  species  gazed  all  around 
and  sniffed  the  air  as  if  they  could  smell  the  source  of 
impending  danger.  Should  there  be  something  which 
their  instinct  told  them  to  guard  against,  the  leader  took 
his  position  in  the  rear  to  guard  danger's  point,  the  cows 
surged  in  the  opposite  direction  and  the  calves  crowded  to 
the  center,  while  the  rest  of  the  males  gathered  on  the 
flanks,  indicating  a  gallantry  to  the  fair  sex  which  might 
be  emulated  at  times  by  the  genus  homo. 

The  reader  will  find  the  following  extracts  from  Colo- 
nel Jones's  journal  of  intense  interest.  Here  is  his  graphic 
description  of  a  "  stampede  ' ' : 

' '  During  the  third  of  a  lifetime  spent  on  the  Great 
Plains  of  the  interior  of  the  continent,  I  have  witnessed 
many  stampedes  of  buffalo,  wild  horses,  and  Texas  cattle. 
Twenty-five  years  ago  a  stampede  of  buffalo  (which  then 
roamed  in  vast  herds,  numbering  millions)  was  an  every- 
day affair;  now,  such  an  occurrence  is  impossible.  What 
caused  the  huge,  shaggy  monsters,  accustomed  to  the  tor- 
nado, the  vivid  lightning,  the  terrible  hail  that  frequently 
accompanies  the  sudden,  short  storms  of  the  prairies,  the 
wolves,  and  the  thousand-and-one  strange  phenomena  of 
nature,  to  stampede  at  apparently  nothing,  is  one  of  those 


232 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


problems  that  will  admit  of  no  solution.  Sometimes  it 
was  a  flash  of  lightning  from  a  dark  cloud;  again,  a  cry 
of  a  starved  wolf ;  the  appearance  on  the  horizon  of  a  sin- 
gle figure ;  a  meteor ;  or  perhaps  something  as  insignifi- 
cant as  the  barking  of  a  prairie-dog,  sitting  on  the  edge  of 
its  burrow.  If  a  single  animal  snorted  and  started  to  run, 
if  only  a  rod,  all  others  near  it  would  start  in  an  opposite 
direction  from  it,  and  thus  others  were  frightened  until  all 
were  a  surging  mass.  A  herd  once  started,  I  have  seen  the 
whole  prairie  for  miles  absolutely  black  with  the  fleeing 
beasts.  There  was  nothing  so  indescribably  grand,  yet  so 
awful  in  its  results ;  the  earth,  shaken  by  the  heavy  tramp 
of  their  hoofs  upon  the  hard  ground,  fairly  reverberated  as 
they  passed  a  given  point.  Woe  to  him,  her,  them  or  it 
that  stood  in  the  way  of  the  mighty  throng  of  infuriated, 
maddened  animals  !  Nothing  but  annihilation,  absolute 
and  complete,  their  portion. 

"A  buffalo  stampede,  indeed!  How  few  there  are  to- 
day who  have  ever  passed  through  this  thrilling  experi- 
ence ;  this  moment  when  the  heart  fluttered  at  the  roots 
of  the  tongue ;  when  the  pursuer,  revolver  or  gun  in  hand, 
the  spurs  rolling  on  the  sides  of  his  frightened  steed,  en- 
deavored to  force  him  nearer  to  the  most  horrid  of  all 
beasts  to  the  eye  of  a  horse.  Still  on  and  on,  like  a 
cyclone  in  its  fury  went  the  great  mass,  the  living  cata- 
ract, plunging  up  as  well  as  down  the  hills  and  over  the 
plains,  tearing  and  cutting  every  vestige  of  vegetation; 
and  woe  unto  any  and  all  living  creatures  that  chanced  to 
be  in  its  pathway ! 

"  Often  have  I  heard  the  heavy  rumble  as  if  a  terrific 
peal  of  thunder  were  reverberating  in  the  distance.  I 
could  see  a  great  cloud  without  water.  I  could  feel  my 
blood  run  cold  and  my  hair  stand  on  end,  as  I  knew  that 
the  sound  was  not  thunder,  but  the  roar  of  the  beating 
hoofs  of  a  living  avalanche.  I  knew  the  cloud  which  was 
approaching  nearer  and  nearer  was  not  rain,  but  dust  and 
dirt  thrown  high  in  the  air  by  the  nimble  feet  of  the 


A  BUFFALO  STAMPEDE 


233 


countless  host  of  buffalo.  To  flee  from  their  wrath  would 
have  been  the  height  of  folly.  All  that  could  be  done 
was,  if  possible,  to  find  a  high  bank  which  they  could  not 
ascend,  and  station  myself  on  the  highest  cliff  and  rest 
content  until  the  herd  had  passed  by.  If  no  such  retreat 
was  near,  then  I  must  rely  on  my  trusty  rifle,  which  was 
always  with  me,  both  day  and  night.  To  be  sure,  I  did 
not  depend  on  shooting  them  to  lessen  their  number,  but 
to  divide  the  herd  and  turn  their  course.  This  was  done 
by  elevating  the  weapon  over  the  herd  just  enough  to  miss 
their  great  humps  that  rolled  on  toward  me  like  millions 
of  iron  hoops,  bounding  in  the  air  at  every  little  obstacle 
encountered.  Then,  when  they  were  within  fifty  yards, 
the  trigger  was  touched  and  the  ball  whistled  furiously 
over  their  heads.  The  buffalo,  with  one  great  impulse  of 
dodging  the  missile,  swerved  to  the  right  or  to  the  left, 
owing  to  which  side  of  them  the  bullet  had  passed.  Then 
a  great  rent  or  split  would  open  out,  and  the  moving  mass 
would  pass  by  on  either  side.  With  wonderful  instinct, 
those  coming  up  in  the  rear  would  follow  the  footprints 
of  their  leaders,  and  the  great  rent  in  the  herd  would  re- 
main open  for  hours  at  a  time,  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
both  in  front  and  behind,  when  they  would  gradually 
come  together  in  the  rear  of  where  I  stood,  and  thunder 
along  in  their  mad  career.  It  is  true  that  one  animal 
alone  could  not  have  made  any  impression  on  the  great 
phalanx;  but  there  is  unity  in  strength,  and  both  were 
-absolutely  required  in  such  time  of  peril. 

"  Such  sights  and  sensations  cannot  be  satisfactorily 
pictured  to  the  millions  of  people  now  living  and  those 
unborn.  I  regret  exceedingly  that  the  kodak  was  not  a 
more  ancient  contrivance,  so  that  a  true  representation 
could  have  been  taken  from  life  and  handed  down  to 
those  who  will  now  only  be  permitted  to  read  pen-pictures 
of  the  days  which  will  never  more  return." 


234 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


As  soon  as  the  stampede  ended,  the  single  herd  was 
broken  up  into  many  smaller  ones  that  traveled  rela- 
tively close  together,  but  led  by  an  independent  guide. 
Perhaps  only  a  few  rods  marked  the  dividing-line  be- 
tween them,  but  it  was  always  unmistakably  plain,  and 
each  moved  synchronously  in  the  direction  in  which  all 
were  going. 

This  distinction  of  groups  unquestionably  represented 
different  families  of  the  buffalo  race.  Colonel  Jones  posi- 
tively asserts  that  there  is  no  doubt  of  this  fact.  He 
says : 

"Each  small  group  is  of  the  same  strain  of  blood. 
There  is  no  animal  in  the  world  more  clannish  than  the 
buffalo.  The  male  calf  follows  the  mother  until  two 
years  old,  when  he  is  driven  out  of  the  herd,  and  the 
parental  tie  is  then  entirely  broken.  The  female  calf 
fares  better,  as  she  is  permitted  to  stay  with  her 
mother's  family  for  life,  unless  by  some  accident  she 
becomes  separated  from  the  group. 

"  The  resemblance  of  each  individual  of  a  family  is  very 
striking,  while  the  difference  between  families  is  as  ap- 
parent to  the  practiced  eye  as  is  the  Caucasian  from  the 
Mongolian  race  of  people. 

' '  These  groups  are  as  quickly  separated  from  the  great 
herd  after  a  stampede,  as  is  a  company  of  soldiers  from 
its  regiment  at  the  close  of  'dress  parade.'  The  several 
animals  know  each  other  by  scent  and  sound ;  they  grunt 
similarly  to  a  hog,  but  in  a  much  stronger  tone,  and  are 
quickly  recognized  by  every  member  of  the  family.  When 
separated  by  a  stampede  or  other  cause,  they  never  rest 
until  they  are  all  together  again. 

"A  pathetic  sight  was  sometimes  witnessed  when  the 
mother  of  one  of  these  families  was  killed  at  the  first 
shot.  They  were  so  devoted  to  her  they  would  linger,  and 
wait  until  the  last  one  could  be  easily  slain.  Often  have 
I  so  crippled  a  calf  that  it  was  impossible  for  it  to  follow 


REPRESENTING   THE  AGES  OF  BUFFALO. 


METHOD  OF  SKINNING  BUFFALO. 


INTELLIGENCE  OF  BUFFALO 


235 


the  herd,  and  its  pitiful  bleating  would  hold  the  family 
until  I  could  kill  all  desired.  Should  the  calf  be  wounded 
in  the  fore  or  hind  parts,  the  old  cows  would  actually 
support  the  parts  so  crippled,  and  it  would  walk  away  on 
the  normal  parts  by  such  aid.  Sometimes  when  I  now 
lasso  a  calf  of  those  in  domestication,  and  attempt  to 
lead  it  away,  the  mother  will  quickly  place  herself  in 
front  of  her  baby  and  thrust  a  horn  under  and  often 
through  the  loop  of  the  rope,  and  hold  the  horse  and  rider 
perfectly  solid ;  while  if  the  rope  is  slackened,  she  in  some 
instances  will  free  the  calf  entirely.  Such  intelligence 
appears  almost  human.  Often  while  hunting  these  ani- 
mals as  a  business,  I  fully  realized  the  cruelty  of  slaying 
the  poor  creatures.  Many  times  did  I  'swear  off,'  and 
fully  determine  I  would  break  my  gun  over  a  wagon- 
wheel  when  I  arrived  at  camp ;  yet  always  hesitated  to  do 
so  after  several  hours  had  elapsed.  The  next  morning  I 
would  hear  the  guns  of  other  hunters  booming  in  all 
directions,  and  would  make  up  my  mind  that  even  if  I 
did  not  kill  any  more,  the  buffalo  would  soon  all  be  slain 
just  the  same.  Again  I  would  shoulder  my  rifle,  to  re- 
peat the  previous  day's  experience.  I  am  positive  it  was 
the  wickedness  committed  in  killing  so  many,  that  im- 
pelled me  to  take  measures  for  perpetuating  the  race 
which  I  had  helped  to  almost  destroy. 

"  The  mastership  of  a  herd  was  attained  only  by  hard, 
fearful  struggles  for  the  place.  Once  reached,  however, 
the  victor  was  immediately  recognized,  and  kept  his 
authority  until  some  new  aspirant  overcame  him,  or  he 
became  superannuated  and  was  driven  out  of  the  herd  to 
meet  his  inevitable  fate  —  a  prey  to  those  ghouls  of  the 
desert,  the  gray  wolves. 

"The  natural  life  of  the  buffalo  is  much  longer  than  is 
that  of  domestic  cattle.  I  frequently  saw  animals  so  old 
their  horns  had  decayed  and  dropped  off,  which  indicated 
that  they  live  to  a  patriarchal  age.    I  saw  a  buffalo  cow 


236 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


in  the  zoological  garden  in  Paris  which  was  thirty-one 
years  old,  and  am  sure  I  have  seen  wild  ones  from  ten  to 
fifteen  years  older." 

From  the  Chicago  Times,  dated  at  the  time  when  Colo- 
nel Jones  purchased  the  famous  "  Stony  Mountain"  herd 
of  bison,  which  made  such  a  stir,  I  extract  some  facts 
connected  with  the  shipment  of  the  animals  and  their 
stampede,  which  is  germane  to  this  chapter: 

"La  Tauche  Norbert,  of  Regina,  the  government  seat 
for  the  northwest  territories  of  Canada,  is  in  the  city,  en 
route  to  the  eastern  provinces.  Last  evening  he  enter- 
tained the  loungers  in  a  corridor  of  the  Palmer  House 
rotunda  with  stories  of  that  northern  region ;  but  what 
held  his  listeners  best  was  his  account  of  a  shipment  of 
buffalo  from  Stony  Mountain,  Manitoba,  to  Garden  City, 
Kansas.  He  said :  A  few  months  ago,  C.  J.  Jones,  a 
prominent  ranchman  of  Kansas,  paid  a  visit  to  Major 
Sam  Bedson,  warden  of  the  penitentiary,  to  whom  he 
made  an  offer  of  cash  for  the  magnificent  herd  of  buffalo 
belonging  to  him.  The  price  offered,  twenty  thousand 
dollars,  was  not  fancy  enough  for  the  gentleman  who 
worked  the  corner  on  the  last  remnant  of  an  almost  ex- 
tinct animal.  More  money  was  demanded,  and  for  a  few 
weeks  negotiations  for  a  transfer  stood  still.  Meantime, 
Major  Bedson  notified  the  Dominion  Government  that 
such  an  offer  had  been  made,  and  asked  what  inducement 
would  be  made  to  prevent  the  herd's  removal  to  the 
United  States. 

"  It  is  understood  that  the  Dominion  Government  made 
a  bid,  but  the  recent  transfer  shows  Colonel  Jones  on  top, 
at  a  cost  of  about  twenty-five  thousand  dollars.  A  week 
ago  Saturday  the  first  consignment  from  the  famous  herd 
was  loaded  at  Winnipeg,  on  the  cars  of  the  St.  Paul, 
Minneapolis  &  Manitoba  Railroad,  and  they  are  now  en 
route  to  the  Kansas  ranch, 


LOADING  THE  MANITOBA  HERD 


237 


"Among  those  who  witnessed  the  loading  of  the  ani- 
mals were  several  £  old-timers  '  in  the  Northwest,  who  ten 
years  ago  thought  nothing  of  a  sight  of  great  herds  of  buf- 
falo in  a  stampede  across  the  country,  and  there  was  a 
feeling  of  sadness  at  parting  writh  the  shaggy  monsters ; 
and  well  there  might  be,  for  specimens  on  the  far  North- 
western plains  are  now  as  scarce  as  hen's  molars. 

"  The  distance  from  Stony  Mountain  to  Winnipeg  is 
about  twelve  miles,  and  when  thirty-three  of  the  ninety- 
five  had  been  separated  for  shipment,  they  were  driven 
across  the  open  prairie  to  the  Winnipeg  stock-yards. 
Three  or  four  naughty  old  bulls,  wThen  half-way  on  their 
journey,  sniffed  the  air,  saw  trouble,  and  with  a  sudden 
'  right  about '  threw  down  their  heads,  and  with  their  tails 
high  in  the  air  took  the  crow-line  for  their  old  quarters. 
Horsemen  armed  with  heavy  cowboy  whips  and  steel 
prongs  charged  after  the  truants,  but  the  animals,  their 
ancient  vigor  having  returned  to  them,  soon  reached 
home.  When  the  others  arrived  at  the  Winnipeg  yards, 
they  too  turned  tail,  but  were  headed  off,  and  soon  driven 
across  the  railroad.  Jones  ordered,  as  soon  as  the  herd 
was  across,  that  a  train  of  freight  cars  a  mile  long  be 
pulled  up  to  the  end  of  the  railroad  fence,  and  thereby 
prevent  a  stampede  back  across  the  railroad.  Everything 
worked  exactly  as  the  great  general  had  planned.  The 
stockyards  were  on  the  north  side  of  the  road,  and  how  to 
get  the  buffalo  into  such  a  trap  was  apparently  beyond 
human  skill ;  but  Jones  is  the  most  wonderful  schemer 
ever  seen  in  the  Queen's  domain,  beyond  question.  He 
had  a  hasty  fence  built  from  the  north  side  of  the  gate  on 
the  west  side  of  the  yards,  in  a  circular  fashion,  and  made 
it  fast  to  the  east  end  of  a  car,  then  ordered  the  coupling- 
pin  pulled  and  the  east  end  of  the  train  moved  to  the  east 
one  car-length.  As  soon  as  the  buffalo  saw  daylight  be- 
tween the  cars,  they  made  a  furious  dash  for  their  old 
home  to  the  north.  Jones  was  well  mounted,  and  pushed 
those  ill  the  rear  up  into  the  herd.    Every  buffalo  leaped 


238 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


clear  over  the  track,  and  the  circling  fence  guided  them 
through  the  great  gate  into  the  stockyards.  Jones  then 
jumped  from  his  mount  upon  the  gate  and  gave  himself  a 
mighty  push  from  the  fence,  and  swung  in  front  of  the 
whole  herd,  which  had  reached  the  limits  of  the  pen,  real- 
ized the  trap,  and  were  retreating, —  but  too  late.  The 
mighty  gate  had  closed,  and  Jones  was  standing  trium- 
phant upon  it,  as  calm  and  composed  as  if  nothing  unu- 
sual had  occurred,  while  crowds  of  people  enjoyed  this 
greatest  victory  our  people  ever  witnessed. 

"  Then  the  buffalo  began  a  stampede  inside,  and  trouble 
commenced  in  dead  earnest,  which  was  as  exciting  to 
the  spectators  as  a  duel  in  the  dark  with  knives,  between 
a  couple  of  Southern  editors.  When  the  buffalo  realized 
they  had  been  caged,  they  began  a  fight  among  them- 
selves, and  some  fierce  encounters  were  wraged  between 
the  old  fellows.  They  tossed  the  younger  ones  skyward 
on  their  horns,  and  gored  them  as  they  came  down.  A 
dog  that  had  been  used  to  the  now  maddened  brutes  got 
in  among  them,  and  in  less  time  than  it  takes  to  tell  it 
the  unfortunate  canine  was  reduced  to  a  grease-spot  and 
flying  particles  of  hair.  The  fight  lasted  for  nearly  an 
hour ;  so  the  idea  of  getting  the  buffalo  to  march  on  the 
gangway  was  about  abandoned,  and  would  have  been  but 
for  the  action  at  this  juncture  of  an  infuriated  bull  who 
took  it  into  his  head  to  inaugurate  a  stampede.  The  old 
fellow  had  been  making  trouble  all  day,  and  '  waded  in  ' 
to  eclipse  all  his  previous  efforts.  Gathering  all  his 
strength,  he  got  behind  the  rest  of  the  herd;  then  Jones 
prodded  him  furiously.  It  was  then  he  commenced  to 
make  it  unpleasant  for  his  companions,  bellowing  at 
them,  and  driving  his  monstrous  horns  into  their  flanks. 
In  this  way,  from  pure  devilment,  buffalo  have  from  time 
immemorial  worked  up  a  grand  stampede.  In  this  in- 
stance the  herd  were  compelled  to  forge  ahead,  and,  hav- 
ing no  other  plank  to  travel,  had  to  march  into  the  car, 
the  £  limbo  '  prepared  for  them.    But  when  the  old  brute 


STARTING  ON  A  MOOSE-HUNt*  239 

who  had  caused  all  the  rumpus  arrived  at  the  car-door 
and  saw  where  his  skill  at  stampeding  had  landed  him,  he 
tossed  up  his  head  in  his  characteristic  way,  and  with  a 
look  of  disgust  wheeled  around,  cleared  several  fences 
from  seven  to  ten  feet  high,  and  was  soon  observed  as  a 
small  speck  only,  far  down  the  prairie,  while  all  attempts 
to  turn  him  back  were  like  endeavoring  to  make  the  Mis- 
sissippi river  run  up-hill. 

"When  the  buffalo  had  made  good  his  escape,  Mr. 
Jones  closed  the  iron  car-doors  with  a  clang,  and  the 
world's  first  car-load  of  buffalo  was  soon  speeding  on  its 
journey  to  their  far-away  home  in  sunny  Kansas,  and 
Canada  lost  one  of  her  greatest  opportunities,  which  will 
be  regretted  by  all  true  subjects  of  her  Majesty's  do- 
main." 

On  one  of  his  trips  in  Canada,  Colonel  Jones  heard  of 
some  moose  whose  habitat  was  about  forty  miles  out  of 
Emerson,  in  the  Dominion.  True  to  his  innate  love  of 
hunting  and  preserving  large  game,  he  at  once  deter- 
mined to  secure  some  of  these  animals,  none  of  which  he 
had  ever  seen  alive.  His  first  and  the  principal  idea 
which  controlled  him  was,  if  possible,  to  get  one  or  two 
young  ones,  and  add  them  to  the  stock  of  wild  ruminants 
on  his  ranch  at  Garden  City. 

He  started  on  the  chase  (  or  rather,  hunt )  in  his  usual 
methodical  way;  for,  as  previously  observed,  he  is  a  very 
practical  man,  and  never  does  a  thing  without  giving  the 
subject  his  serious  thought.  Then  if  he  determines  a 
thing  can  be  accomplished,  he  never  lags  until  it  is  con- 
summated. The  story  of  his  success  in  this  instance 
cannot  better  be  told  than  in  his  own  description  of  the 
expedition : 

"  My  original  intention  was  to  penetrate  the  northern 
regions,  as  far  as  Alaska  if  necessary,  in  search  of  young 
moose,  elk,  and  such  other  herbivorous  wild  animals  as 
could  be  found.    While  waiting  at  Emerson  for  a  train, 


240 


FORTY  YEARS    OF  ADVENTURES 


I  entered  into  conversation  with  a  half-breed  Indian 
about  wild  animals,  and  much  to  my  delight  and  sur- 
prise, was  informed  that  he  knew  where  there  were  two 
old  moose  of  prodigious  size,  and  several  young  ones.  I  at 
once  investigated  the  responsibility  of  the  savage,  as, 
from  a  long  experience  with  them  on  the  Western  Plains 
and  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  I  was  familiar  with  their 
love  of  boasting  and  occasional  carelessness  of  the  truth. 
I  was  rejoiced  when  my  landlord  assured  me  that  the 
Indian  was  responsible  and  perfectly  reliable.  Upon 
this,  I  immediately  sought  a  team  to  convey  us  to  the 
coveted  spot  where  the  moose  were  said  to  frequent.  I 
found  a  liveryman  who  informed  me  he  had  a  team  that 
could  'get  there.'  By  the  way,  I  learned  very  soon  that 
this  stable-keeper  was  the  once  celebrated  hurdle-rider  of 
Cole's  circus,  and  I  was  not  long  in  making  terms  with 
him  for  the  team. 

"  My  landlord  (himself  an  old  hunter)  was  to  accom- 
pany me  on  the  proposed  trip,  and  in  less  than  an  hour 
after  hearing  of  the  moose  we  were  all  three  in  a  com- 
fortable spring-wagon,  bowling  over  the  prairie  at  the 
rate  of  a  mile  in  eight  minutes,  headed  for  the  tamarack 
swamp  where  the  moose  were  known  to  be.  Our  guide 
first  took  us  to  where  some  Indians  were  camped,  digging 
snakeroot.  We  were  to  get  one  or  more  of  the  bucks  to 
go  with  us.  They  were  only  too  glad  of  the  opportunity ; 
but  I  had  to  hire  the  whole  '  outfit.'  Their  astonishment 
was  great  when  they  learned  a  party  was  going  for  moose 
without  guns,  and  when  the  guide  explained  my  method 
of  getting  big  game,  a  lonely  old  buck  stretched  himself 
back  and  exclaimed  with  a  sneer,  4  Squaws  1  '  This  to  me 
was  a  decided  insult,  and  if  I  could  have  spoken  his  hor- 
rid language,  would  have  let  him  know  that  I  had  killed 
more  big  game  in  my  life  than  his  whole  tribe.  Perhaps 
it  was  as  well  that  we  could  not  converse  together,  or  we 
might  have  had  a  regular  cowboy  £  round-up'  before  I  had 
accomplished  my  mission. 


A  COLD  NIGHT  IN  JUNE 


241 


•'We  were  now  ready  to  turn  in  for  the  night.  The 
sun  had  long  since  disappeared.  I  took  out  my  watch, 
and  to  my  surprise  discovered  it  was  ten  minutes  after 
ten,  although  the  twilight  still  lingered  in  the  little  val- 
ley. The  red-margined  clouds  in  the  northwestern  sky 
looked  as  if  the  sun  had  only  just  passed  below  the  ho- 
rizon. At  first  I  supposed  my  watch  had  been  gaining 
time.  Then  I  remembered  I  was  nearer  the  northern  re- 
gions, where  often  is  seen  the  1  midnight  sun.'  We  spread 
our  blankets  and  rolled  in  for  the  night.  I  never  suffered 
so  much  from  cold,  even  in  January. 

u  The  sky  soon  became  quite  clear,  and  in  the  morning 
(  June  26th)  the  ground  was  covered  with  frost.  I  routed 
the  Indians  out  at  break  of  day,  which  came  about  half- 
past  two  o'clock,  and  we  partook  of  a  lunch,  with  a  cup 
of  strong  coffee  to  wash  it  down. 

u  Our  early  meal  disposed  of,  we  started  for  a  grove  of 
poplars  about  a  mile  distant  from  camp,  where  it  was  re- 
ported the  moose  had  last  been  seen.  Arriving  at  the 
grove,  two  of  us  remained  outside  the  clump  of  timber  to 
watch  if  any  thing  ran  out,  while  six  Indians  and  the 
guide  went  into  it  to  search  for  the  moose.  They  had 
been  gone,  it  seemed  to  me,  long  enough  to  have  traveled 
over  the  whole  area,  with  an  hour  to  spare,  when  suddenly 
I  heard  a  tremendous  rattling  and  snapping  of  sticks  and 
brush.  At  the  same  instant  I  saw,  above  a  quaking-ash, 
a  huge  head,  which  I  immediately  made  up  my  mind  was 
nothing  less  than  a  grizzly  bear.  There  I  was,  without 
even  a  revolver,  and  the  worst  of  all  wild  animals  coming 
directly  toward  me.  What  could  I  do  but  stand  and 
'  face  the  music '  ?  By  the  time  I  grasped  the  dreadful 
situation,  if  my  conjectures  were  true,  I  saw  very  plainly 
that  wrhat  confronted  me  was  not  a  bear,  but  an  immense 
female  moose !  Her  long  legs  looked  to  me  like  fence- 
posts.  She  passed  only  a  few  yards  away,  making  a  1  bee 
line '  for  a  tamarack  grove,  half  a  mile  distant. 

"  Now  for  the  fun  I  A  sharp  watch  was  kept  up,  hoping 
—  16 


242  FORTY  YEARS  OF  ADVENTURES 

to  see  a  calf  following;  but  no  calf  appeared.  In  a  few 
moments  I  saw  the  head  of  our  guide  emerge  from  the 
brush,  and  to  my  unbounded  delight  he  held  in  his  arms 
something  that  looked  like  a  young  colt.  Great  heavens  ! 
What  is  it?  A  moose,  indeed?  Who  ever  dreamed  of 
such  a  looking  creature  ?  Legs  like  handspikes  four  feet 
long;  head  almost  like  a  bear,  with  a  neck  only  six  inches 
in  length;  body  like  a  young  calf,  except  it  had  a  well- 
defined  hump  on  its  shoulder.  When  standing  it  was  as 
large  as  a  young  Norman  colt ;  really  stood  higher, 
though  its  body  was  not  quite  as  heavy.  It  was  the 
greatest  curiosity  I  had  ever  seen,  and  I  felt  very  proud 
of  its  acquisition  to  my  collection  of  wild  beasts, —  par- 
ticularly so  because  the  moose  is,  like  the  buffalo,  nearly 
extinct.  It  is  now  a  magnificent  animal,  as  large  as  an 
average  carriage-horse. 

"The  guide  had  routed  two  calves:  one  escaped  in  the 
underbrush,  while  the  one  he  captured  endeavored  to  as- 
cend a  steep  bank  and  fell  back  into  the  arms  of  the 
guide.  We  spent  the  day  looking  for  the  missing  animal, 
but  to  no  purpose. 

"When  I  shipped  the  buffalo  from  Canada,  I  took  the 
moose  to  my  ranch  at  Garden  City,  and  as  my  time  was 
occupied  looking  after  the  buffalo,  I  finally  sold  it  to  the 
owners  of  a  park  at  Hutchinson,  Kansas,  where  it  ap- 
peared to  thrive  in  that  sunny  clime.  When  the  Mani- 
toba herd  was  added  to  the  buffalo  I  had  before  captured, 
they  numbered  one  hundred  and  thirty-five,  a  portion  of 
which  I  took  to  Salt  Lake  City,  where  I  disposed  of  them. 
Those  at  Garden  City  I  experimented  with  for  several 
years. 

"I  turned  my  attention  to  carrying  out  my  original 
idea  of  producing  a  race  of  animals,  by  engrafting  the 
buffalo  upon  our  domestic  cattle. 

"As  to  the  new  variety  of  animals  so  produced,  I  should 
not  close  without  saying  something  in  particular  as  to  this 
discovery. 


CATALO  COW,  THREE-QUARTERS  BUFFALO. 


DESCRIPTION  AND   HABITS  OF  CATALO 


243 


kk  I  have  been  very  diligent  during  the  past  five  years  in 
endeavoring  to  produce  a  race  of  cattle  equal  in  hardiness 
to  the  buffalo,  with  robes  much  finer,  and  possessing  all 
the  advantages  of  the  best  bred  cattle.  To  say  that  I 
have  succeeded,  without  furnishing  the  proof,  would 
merely  cause  derision ;  so  I  have  photographed  a  number 
of  these  wonderful  animals,  which  will  give  a  slight  idea 
of  what  has  been  accomplished.  The  reader  may  have 
further  and  ocular  demonstration  by  seeing  for  himself. 

"  To  these  cross-breeds  I  have  given  the  name,  4  Cat- 
alog from  the  first  syllable  of  cattle  and  the  last  three 
letters  of  buffalo  (cat-alo)  ;  thus  forming  a  suggestive  no- 
menclature for  the  new  animals. 


CATALO  cow. 
Seven  years  old.     Weight,  1620  pounds. 


u  Catalo  are  produced  by  crossing  the  male  buffalo  with 
the  domestic  cow.  Yet  the  best  and  surest  method  is  the 
reverse  of  this.  Only  the  first  cross  is  difficult  to  secure; 
after  that,  they  are  unlike  the  mule,  for  they  are  as  fer- 


244 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


tile  as  either  the  cattle  or  buffalo.  They  breed  readily 
with  either  strain  of  the  parent  race  —  the  females  espe- 
cially. It  is  very  difficult  to  secure  a  male  catalo.  I  have 
never  been  able  to  raise  but  one  half-breed  bull,  and  he 
was  accidentally  killed  before  becoming  serviceable. 

"  The  half-breeds  are  much  larger  than  their  progeni- 
tors of  either  side;  the  cows  weighing  from  twelve  to 
fifteen  hundred  pounds.  Major  Bedson,  of  Manitoba, 
succeeded  in  raising  a  male  half-breed,  but  unfortu- 
nately made  a  steer  of  him  when  young.  At  five  years 
old  he  was  butchered,  and  dressed  twelve  hundred  and 
eighty  pounds  —  equivalent  to  a  live  weight  of  twenty- 
four  hundred  and  eighty  pounds. 

1 '  The  quarter  and  three-quarter  buffalo  are  not  so  large 
as  the  half-blood ;  they  are  about  the  same  size  as  ordi- 
nary good  cattle.  The  seven-eighths  and  fifteen-sixteenths 
buffalo  are  of  the  size  of  buffalo,  and  resemble  them  in 
shape  and  color.  The  fur  of  the  three-quarter  and  seven- 
eighths  buffalo  makes  the  finest  robes.  This  fur  is  per- 
fectly compact,  and  when  bred  from  the  black  strain  of 
cattle,  is  as  handsome  as  that  of  the  black  beaver.  Some 
of  the  half-bloods  are  excellent  milkers,  yielding  a  fair 
quantity  of  milk,  which  is  as  rich  as  that  of  the  Jersey. 
The  nearer  they  approach  the  full-blood  buffalo,  the  less 
quantity  is  produced;  but  the  milk  is  correspondingly 
richer,  as  the  milk  of  the  full-blooded  buffalo  cow  is 
richer  than  the  Jersey's. 

"  The  catalo  are  quiet  animals,  so  long  as  you  keep 
hands  off.  They  are  good  feeders,  have  excellent  appe- 
tites, and  are  invariably  in  excellent  flesh,  though  fed  on 
any  kind  of  provender.  I  have  successfully  wintered 
them  on  the  'range,'  without  any  artificial  food  or  shel- 
ter, as  far  north  as  Lake  Winnipeg.  They  withstood  the 
cold  when  the  mercury  reached  fifty  degrees  below  zero, 
without  artificial  food  or  shelter. 

"I  have  succeeded  in  crossing  with  almost  all  the  dif- 
ferent breeds  of  cattle,  but  the  Galloway  is  unquestion- 


TRAITS  OF  THE  CATALO 


245 


ably  the  safest,  most  satisfactory,  and  produces  the  finest 
and  best  robes. 

"  The  catalo  inherit  more  of  the  traits  of  the  buffalo 
than  of  the  domestic  cattle.  They  face  the  blizzards,  and 
when  the  first  of  the  unwelcome  storms  appears  in  early 
winter,  the  domestic  cow  and  her  calf  bid  adieu  to  each 
other, —  the  cow  drifting  with  the  storm,  while  the  calf 
faces  the  blizzard  and  remains  with  the  buffalo  herd. 

"There  is  one  peculiar  thing  about  the  catalo:  they 
all  have  'solid'  colors;  i.  e.,  they  are  either  black,  seal 
brown,  brindle,  or  white.  I  never  saw  or  heard  of  a 
spotted  catalo. 

"  They  are  somewhat  inclined  to  be  cross,  and  when  the 
cows  have  young  calves  at  their  sides  are  exceptionally  so. 

" After  all  my  experiments  in  cross-breeding,  I  feel  con- 
fident it  can  be  made  successful,  if  the  right  class  of  cows 
is  secured  and  they  receive  the  proper  treatment,  with- 
out which  none  can  hope  for  success.  I  did  not  only 
make  a  failure,  but  two  or  three  of  them ;  yet  by  persist- 
ent efforts,  succeeded  in  a  remarkable  degree  in  produc- 
ing the  very  kind  of  animal  my  imagination  dwelt  upon 
while  in  western  Texas  in  1886." 


CHAPTER  XVI 


DOMESTICATED  BUFFALO 

HABITS  OF  DOMESTICATED  BUFFALO,   COMPARED  WITH  WILD 

 PROPAGATION  TAKES    NERVE    TO    CONQUER  THEM  

CORRALS  OF  WIRE  ;  FENCE-RAILS  NOT  EFFECTIVE  —  BUF- 
FALO KILLS  HIS  CAPTOR — "  JOHN  L.  SULLIVAN,"  WHICH 
NEVER  MET  A  4 1  CORBETT  ' '  BREAKING  BUFFALO  TO  HAR- 
NESS—  NO  BOY'S  PLAY  COMPELLED  TO  HOLD  THE  LINES 

WITH    A    WINDLASS — CONGRESS    HELD    RESPONSIBLE  FOR 

EXTINCTION    OF    BUFFALO  COLONEL    JONES'S    OFFER  TO 

CORRAL  A  HERD  —  GOVERNMENT  PROPERLY  WARNED  OF 
THE  DANGER,  BUT  IGNORED  IT — THE  NUMBER  THAT  EX- 
ISTED   AT    DIFFERENT    PERIODS         UNWRITTEN    CODES  OF 

HUNTERS — WHY  THE  TRAILS  ARE  CROOKED  HOW  COLO- 
NEL JONES  KILLED  A  WHOLE  HERD. 


UNDER  domestication  the  buffalo  loses  but  few  of 
its  normal  characteristics.  The  greatest  change 
appears  to  be  in  a  diminution  of  its  power  of 
scent,  which  serves  it  so  admirably  in  its  wild 
state,  and  in  an  increase  of  the  power  of  vision.  In  their 
natural  condition  the  eye  is  rarely  depended  upon  to  lo- 
cate the  whereabouts  of  an  enemy,  while  their  sense  of 
smell  is  so  wonderfully  developed  that  neither  animal  nor 
man  can  pass  them  on  the  windward  side  within  two  miles 
without  being  immediately  discovered;  indeed,  often  a 
herd  has  been  stampeded  by  the  scent  from  a  single 
hunter  even  four  miles  away. 

Under  domestication  much  of  this  keen  instinct  ap- 

(246) 


\ 


Buffalo's  nature  changed  by  environment  247 

pears  to  be  eliminated  from  their  nature;  this  in  con- 
sequence of  a  change  in  their  environment,  which,  as 
scientists  have  proved,  completely  metamorphoses  the 
character  of  man,  after  even  only  one  or  two  generations ; 
and  this  applies  equally  to  the  brute  creation,  so  far  as 
observation  extends.  Now,  by  the  radical  change  in  their 
surroundings,  the  buffalo  absolutely  fail  to  recognize  any- 
thing by  scent,  depending  entirely  on  sight  or  sound  —  a 
complete  reversion  in  this  particular  from  their  normal 
state  of  freedom.  Colonel  Jones  affirms  that  "  under 
certain  conditions  they  sometimes,  in  their  domesticated 
environment,  scent  water,  especially  when  ravenously 
thirsty  and  when  but  a  short  distance  away,  while  in 
their  wild  state  I  have  known  them  to  scent  it  when  it 
was  miles  distant." 

He  says  further:  " While  wild,  it  is  an  impossibility  to 
turn  a  herd  from  its  general  course ;  under  domestication, 
however,  the  buffalo  yields  as  readily  to  the  cowboy's  will 
in  this  particular  as  do  our  native  cattle.  Yet  they  will 
never  allow  themselves  to  be  driven  into  a  close  corral, 
barn,  or  any  other  inclosure  without  a  domestic  cow  in 
the  lead,  or  they  are  '  tolled  '  in  by  some  seductive  food 
or  salt.  A  corral  made  of  wire  only  has  no  terrors  for 
them,  as  in  such  an  enclosure  they  are  able  to  see  in  all 
directions.  They  are  strong  feeders,  taking  kindly  to 
corn  and  all  other  grain,  as  well  as  to  root  crops;  their 
appetites  never  failing  until  their  capacity  has  reached 
its  limit. 

"They  propagate  as  readily  as  do  the  domestic  cattle, 
when  they  have  large  inclosures  and  are  not  disturbed 
too  much.  In  close  confinement  they  are  not  at  all  pro- 
lific. When  they  do  breed  under  such  circumstances,  the 
offspring  is  almost  invariably  a  male ;  consequently  the 
.  race  would  shortly  become  extinct,  unless  great  care  were 
.  exercised,  as  nature  revolts  at  such  an  innovation. 

"When  I  first  seriously  talked  of  domesticating  the 
buffalo,  I  was  severely  ridiculed  by  people  who  had  had 


248 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


some  acquaintance  with  the  few  which  had  been  tamed. 
They  were  loud  in  their  protestations ;  declared  it  was  an 
impossibility;  success  could  never  follow  the  experiment, 
as  no  fence  except  a  high  stone  wall  would  hold  them ; 
there  had  been  boards  innumerable  smashed,  and  the  old- 
fashioned  rail  fence  scattered  in  all  directions  by  the 
vicious  animals,  which  delight  in  balancing  the  rails  on 
their  horns,  and  then  tossing  them  high  in  the  air,  run- 
ning from  under  and  kicking  up  their  heels  at  every  jump. 
That  after  their  escape  from  confinement  they  would  raid 
the  neighboring  farms,  doing  immense  damage,  until 
finally  some  enraged  individual  would  shoot  them  to  rid 
himself  of  the  trouble  they  caused. 

"  I  tried  many  styles  of  fence  when  first  engaging  in  the 
undertaking,  and  of  course  experienced  many  of  the 
difficulties  pointed  out;  but  when  I  stretched  five  or  six 
barbed  wires  to  fair-sized  posts  a  rod  apart,  with  a  stay 
between,  I  had  no  further  difficulty  in  restraining  them. 
I  kept  from  fifty  to  a  hundred  buffaloes  on  a  section  of 
land  (six  hundred  and  forty  acres)  for  more  than  a  year 
at  a  time  without  a  single  one  going  through  the  wires. 
Even  one  acre  fenced  as  above  will  prevent  a  hundred 
buffaloes  from  escaping,  as  effectually  as  could  be  desired. 

"  The  cows  are  very  cautious  when  an  attempt  is  made 
to  corral  them,  particularly  if  they  have  calves  by  their 
side,  as  they  seem  to  fear  their  little  ones  will  be  trapped. 
The  cows  always  mingle  with  the  males  until  the  calves 
are  about  five  months  old  —  from  May  1st  to  October; 
after  that  time  they  separate,  the  calves,  yearlings  and 
two-year-olds  remaining  with  the  cows,  while  the  males 
over  two  years  old  isolate  themselves.  The  reason  for 
this  is  easily  explained;  there  is  a  motive  in  it.  The 
males  are  very  important  factors  in  defending  the  calves 
from  the  wolves,  which  were  the  greatest  enemy  the  buf- 
falo in  their  wild  state  had  to  contend  with.  The  sepa- 
ration does  not  occur  until  the  calves  are  strong  enough 
to  take  care  of  themselves.   The  bulls  are  very  rough  with 


SUBDUED  WITH  DIFFICULTY 


249 


their  horns,  and  the  cows  keep  beyond  their  reach,  espe- 
cially while  carrying  their  young.  The  calves  are  all 
dropped  in  April  or  May. 

"  The  buffalo  very  natural]y  dislike  a  horse,  and  during 
the  summer  months  it  is  a  difficult  task  to  drive  the  bulls 
with  that  animal,  as  they  seem  to  take  a  special  delight 
in  showing  how  they  can  run  him  over  the  prairie  at  their 
own  sweet  will,  often  when  the  rider  is  doing  all  he  can  to 
prevent  it.  He  may  use  his  whip  vigorously,  and  even 
give  the  cowboy  yell,  but  it  has  little  effect,  unless  he  has 
the  nerve  to  dismount  and  walk  out  to  meet  the  enraged 
animal, —  not  at  all  times  advisable;  though  I  had  one 
man  in  my  employ  who  would  persist  in  so  doing,  and  he 
always  came  out  victorious.  I  discharged  him  for  his  cour- 
age, and  he  no  doubt  lived  much  longer  in  consequence  of 
my  action. 

"I  am  firmly  of  the  opinion  that  there  are  very  few 
buffalo,  excepting  the  master  of  the  herd,  that  cannot  be 
subdued  by  man,  if  he  only  possess  the  nerve  to  face  them, 
never  yielding  or  turning  his  back  toward  them.  As  long 
as  you  confront  them  and  continue  to  advance,  they  in- 
variably surrender  just  before  the  apparently  supreme 
moment  arrives.  If  you  turn  your  back,  even  for  an  in- 
stant, they  will  rush  at  you  with  all  their  natural  vigor 
and  rage,  and  unless  there  is  a  fence  or  other  good  place 
of  refuge  near,  you  are  gone.  A  man  should  never  turn 
under  any  circumstance,  but  back  off,  whether  he  be  on 
horseback  or  on  foot,  until  he  is  out  of  danger  of  the  fero- 
cious beast's  horns.  The  bull,  fortunately,  always  gives 
warning  that  he  is  going  to  charge,  by  lying  down  and 
rolling  in  the  dust,  or  by  tearing  up  the  earth  with  his 
formidable  horns,  pawing  up  the  turf  with  his  feet,  and 
roaring,  or  puffing, —  something  in  its  sound  like  a  loco- 
motive ascending  a  steep  grade  with  a  heavy  load.  An- 
other premonitory  sign  is  that  the  enraged  bull  always 
holds  his  tail  high  in  the  air  before  the  impending  charge. 

"  I  know  of  only  one  instance  where  a  man  was  hurt  by 


250 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


a  domesticated  buffalo.  This  was  in  the  case  of  Mr.  A. 
H.  Cole,  of  Oxford,  Nebraska.  An  old  buffalo  wanted  to 
go  out  in  the  road  to  fight  a  domestic  animal  which  had 
just  sounded  the  challenge,  roaring  furiously  and  pawing 
up  the  earth  in  his  rage.  The  buffalo  bull  in  front  of 
which  Mr.  Cole  stood  was  six  years  of  age.  His  keeper 
attempted  to  turn  the  buffalo  back,  but  the  pugnacious 
animal  objected ;  upon  which  Mr.  Cole,  becoming  dis- 
gusted, wheeled  suddenly  around  and  started  for  a  pitch- 
fork which  stood  a  few  rods  from  him,  when  the  bull,, 
imagining  he  had  bluffed  Mr.  Cole,  made  a  furious  dash 
at  him  and  drove  one  of  his  sharp  horns  into  the  unfor- 
tunate man's  back,  from  the  effect  of  which  he  died  in 
about  ten  days.  Had  the  man  retreated  backward,  keep- 
ing his  face  toward  the  animal,  there  would  not  have  been 
the  slightest  danger ;  the  bull  would  never  have  made  an 
attempt  to  charge  him.  What  is  true  of  the  buffalo  in 
this  respect,  is  also  true  of  all  animals.  A  person  should 
not  lose  presence  of  mind  if  ever  caught  in  such  a  predic- 
ament, and  never  forget  to  face  the  beast,  unless  certain 
he  can  make  good  his  escape. 

"I  have  had  but  one  buffalo  in  my  herd  that  was  in- 
clined to  be  dangerously  pugnacious — 'John  L.  Sullivan.' 
He  is  master  of  all  others.  He  is  a  perfect  dictator,  rul- 
ing his  congeners  as  absolutely  as  was  ever  a  subject  by 
imperious  monarch.  Should  any  one  of  the  growing 
bulls,  however,  some  day  muster  up  courage  to  attack  and 
conquer  him,  all  the  males  in  the  herd  will  join  in  chas- 
ing him  for  many  days,  until  he  will  not  dare  show  him- 
self again.  Were  he  in  a  wild  state,  the  wolves  alone 
would  cordially  welcome  him,  only  to  hamstring  and  de- 
vour him  as  a  reward  for  his  '  cussedness  '  while  in  power. 
1  Sic  temper  tyrannise 

"Ever  since  the  hour  man  was  given  'dominion  over 
the  beasts  of  the  field,'  it  has  been  one  of  the  chief 
objects  of  his  ambition  to  subject  the  various  animals  to 
his  will,  for  the  purpose  of  compelling  them  to  share 


"JOHN  L.  SULLIVAN." 


TRAINING  THE  BUFFALO 


251 


the  burden  of  labor  imposed  upon  him  by  the  fiat  of  na- 
ture. From  the  diminutive  shepherd  dog,  which  has  been 
trained  to  take  care  of  the  flocks,  and  thus  relieve  his 
master  from  much  of  the  incessant  worry  incident  to 
their  keeping,  to  the  ponderous  elephant  capable  of  car- 
rying tons  of  weight,  man's  prowess  in  subordinating 
these  creatures  to  his  demands  is  proof  of  his  superiority 
over  the  brute  creation.  The  horse,  beyond  all  others, 
has  been  of  the  greatest  service ;  nor  must  the  patient  ox 
be  forgotten;  nor  the  ' ship  of  the  desert,'  the  camel, 
which  is  entitled  to  its  meed  of  praise.  But  of  all  beasts 
of  burden,  in  considering  the  requirements  of  strength, 
vitality,  endurance,  and  capacity,  the  buffalo  is  incom- 
parably greater  than  all  others  mentioned.  To  be  sure, 
reared  in  absolute  idleness,  without  being  required  to 
labor  in  the  slightest  for  his  support  during  ages  of  a 
long  ancestry,  it  is  natural  he  should  be  inclined  to  an 
obstinacy  more  persistent  than  is  found  in  almost  any 
other  beast,  with  a  manifest  unmanageableness  growing 
out  of  his  freedom  from  all  restraint  in  his  natural  state ; 
yet  when  forced  to  act,  he,  like  all  other  animals,  reluc- 
tantly yields  to  the  ruling  power  of  man.  The  party  who 
undertakes  to  control  a  full-grown  bull  must  be  confident 
of  the  fact  that  he  was  given  dominion  over  all  the  brute 
creation,  and  is  able  to  exercise  that  power,  or  he  will 
never  successfully  perform  what  he  sets  about  to  do. 

"I  have  devoted  a  great  deal  of  time,  patience,  and 
money,  to  say  nothing  of  the  danger  experienced,  in  order 
to  demonstrate  that  the  buffalo  is  not  only  a  practicable 
but  tractable  animal,  when  he  has  been  carefully  trained. 
I  have  taken  the  little  buffalo  calves  and  yoked  them  to- 
gether; but  the  determination  of  their  spirit  of  liberty 
immediately  developed  itself.  At  first  they  fought  as  fu- 
riously as  gladiators.  They  would  lie  down,  roll  over, 
and  put  themselves  into  all  sorts  of  strange  positions,  not 
infrequently  reversing  ends,  each  one  headed  in  a  different 
direction;  they  reared,  plunged,  kicked  and  4  cavorted' 


252 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


around  like  a  circus-horse.  Their  kick  was  the  very  in- 
carnation of  '  cussedness,'  and  if  you  attempted  to  hold 
one  by  the  ear,  he  would  double  up  like  a  wasp,  and 
knock  your  hand  away  by  a  stroke  of  his  hind  foot.  If 
you  stood  immediately  in  front  of  them,  they  would  jump 
with  all  four  feet  on  your  body.  For  weeks  they  would 
continue  in  this  obstinate  condition,  although  kept  yoked 
together  all  the  time.  By  patience,  however,  and  con- 
tinual efforts  in  handling  them,  they  finally  succumb, 
acknowledging  the  superiority  of  their  master. 

"  Now,  as  young  buffalo  possess  such  characteristics 
when  an  attempt  is  made  to  subdue  them  to  the  yoke,  you 
may  well  imagine  what  would  be  the  case  in  an  attempt 
to  conquer  a  stubborn  old  bull,  who  possesses  all  the  traits 
of  the  calves  I  have  endeavored  to  describe  in  part, —  only 
augmented  ten  fold,  besides  the  faculty  of  buffalo  in  al- 
ways keeping  their  faces  to  the  foe,  which  is  their  nature, 
as  I  have  shown. 

"  The  buffalo  bull  has  no  more  formidable  enemy  than 
another  male  of  his  own  species,  and  when  two  are  yoked 
together  both  are  equally  terrified.  They  cannot  escape, 
and  the  first  thing  each  attempts  is  to  conquer  his  un- 
willing mate.  Both  whirl  in  an  instant  in  their  endeavor 
to  face  each  other,  but  the  yoke  holds  them  in  such  a  po- 
sition that  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  effect  it.  The 
only  result  is,  their  heads  are  thrown  around  against  their 
sides,  like  a  horse  when  suffering  from  colic.  They  con- 
tinue in  this  awkward  position  for  several  days,  when  they 
begin  to  realize  that  neither  can  harm  the  other ;  but  be- 
fore they  are  made  to  stand  up  straight,  and  refrain  from 
constantly  trying  to  meet  each  other  in  combat,  weeks 
elapse.  At  last,  after  months  of  careful  handling,  and 
extreme  patience  on  the  part  of  their  trainer,  they  be- 
come accustomed  to  their  restraint,  and  are  properly 
4  broken,'  exceeding  in  courage  and  strength  any  other 
animal  subjected  by  man  to  assist  in  his  burden  of  labor. 
The  buffalo  when  thus  subordinated  to  the  will  of  their 


colonel  jones's  buffalo  team 


253 


master  are  excellent  travelers,  as  they  walk  rapidly,  yet 
never  trot,  but  change  from  a  walk  to  a  gallop,  which 
gait  they  are  able  to  keep  up  for  miles  without  apparent 
fatigue, —  a  feat  impossible  with  oxen.  The  buffalo  has 
great  endurance,  and  cannot  be  run  down  by  a  horse. 
His  mighty  shoulders  and  double-strength  loins,  by  virtue 
of  the  hump  (which  is  composed  of  muscles  of  great 
strength),  and  his  capacity  to  endure  fitful  climates  so 
long  without  water  and  food,  and  his  many  other  points 
that  excel  any  and  all  other  animals,  all  go  to  make  up 
the  greatest  beast  of  burden  known  to  mankind ;  and  it  is 
strange  that  the  animal  was  never  before  effectually 
brought  under  absolute  control.  Since  the  windlass  has 
been  successfully  used,  no  doubt  some  day  the  buffalo  will 
be  considered  a  valuable  animal  with  which  to  lighten  the 
loads  of  mankind." 

The  picture  on  a  separate  page  represents  a  team  of 
seven-year-old  bulls,  one  of  which  is  the  famous  "  Lucky 
Knight,"  captured  by  Colonel  Jones  on  the  first  day  of 
May,  1886,  causing  him  so  much  trouble,  the  story  of 
which  is  related  in  a  previous  chapter.  The  other,  with 
large  knobs  on  his  horns,  is  the  animal  which  killed  Mr. 
A.  H.  Cole,  his  owner;  was  afterward  purchased  by  Colo- 
nel Jones,  and  broken  to  work  by  that  "buffalo  king" 
when  the  animal  had  attained  the  age  of  six  years  —  a 
most  remarkable  victory  of  the  power  of  the  human  will 
over  that  of  the  brute  creation. 

Colonel  Jones,  in  writing  in  his  journal  of  this  particu- 
lar pair,  says : 

"  They  are  gentle,  and  work  well  together,  but  their 
keeper  is  ever  warned  never  to  give  the  one  that  has  mur- 
der charged  to  his  account,  an  opportunity  to  repeat  the 
crime.  This  team  is  employed  in  drawing  feed  to  the 
other  animals  on  the  ranch  in  winter,  and  in  summer  is 
used  in  plowing,  with  excellent  results." 


254 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


They  are  driven  with  hemp  rope  lines,  made  of  the  best 
material,  attached  to  heavy,  forged  iron  bits  in  their 
mouths,  at  one  end,  at  the  other  to  a  windlass  so  arranged 
on  the  vehicle  that  the  driver  can  control  each  line  by 
winding  it  up,  by  simply  turning  a  crank.  There  are  two 
of  these  cranks.  The  driver  holds  one  in  each  hand,  and 
the  brakes  are  adjusted  by  his  feet,  so  that  the  teamster 
can  draw  harder  with  one  hand  and  foot  than  four  men 
could  without  the  windlass. 

It  was  a  happy  contrivance,  as  every  other  method 
failed  completely  to  control  the  strong  beasts  ;  and  now  it 
has  been  used  so  long  that  the  animals  are  easily  driven 
by  the  Colonel  with  his  hands  alone,  with  as  much  pleas- 
ure as  if  they  were  a  span  of  carriage  horses,  except  that 
when  they  desire  to  drink,  when  passing  a  brook  or  other 
watering-place,  the  windlass  must  control  them.  They 
go  fast  or  slow,  as  he  desires.  But  without  the  windlass 
and  brakes,  they  would  never  have  been  conquered. 

Only  a  few  years  ago  the  American  bison  was  consid- 
ered as  worthless  (except  for  its  hide)  by  everybody  save 
the  American  Indians,  who  alone  appreciated  it  to  a 
somewhat  limited  extent.  They  subsisted  almost  exclu- 
sively on  its  flesh.  In  the  fall,  during  the  dry  weather 
on  the  arid  plains  of  the  interior  of  the  continent,  where 
even  the  "  gentle  dews  of  heaven  "  refused  to  "  fall  upon 
the  earth  beneath,"  where  a  carcass  would  dry  up  like  an 
Egyptian  mummy,  these  children  of  Nature  assembled 
and  slaughtered  great  numbers  of  the  bison.  At  this  sea- 
son the  animal  was  fat,  and  in  the  golden  prime  of  condi- 
tion ;  and  later,  in  November  and  December,  the  robes 
were  black  and  perfect. 

The  tallow  of  the  buffalo  is  as  yellow  and  rich  as  "  Jer- 
sey butter."  The  flesh  is  tender,  juicy,  and  through  the 
process  of  drying,  served  for  bread ;  the  tallow  as  butter. 
This  " bread  and  butter"  was  stored  in  the  animal's  own 
skin  for  winter  use;  while  the  savages,  as  long  as  the 


SOME  INTERESTING  STATISTICS 


255 


fine  weather  lasted,  during  their  prolonged  hunt,  reveled 
like  pigs  in  clover  on  the  delicious  portions  of  the  buf- 
falo, in  former  years  regarded  by  the  white  man  as  re- 
pulsive and  worthless. 

It  is  true  of  nearly  all  peoples,  that  the  more  abundant 
an  article  becomes,  the  less  it  is  appreciated.  Never  was 
apothegm  more  applicable  than  is  this  to  the  buffalo. 
If  anyone  had  taken  the  trouble  to  give  but  a  passing 
thought  to  the  subject,  at  the  proper  time,  a  great  eco- 
nomic problem  would  have  been  solved  —  the  benefits  to 
be  derived  from  domesticating  and  propagating  the  buf- 
falo, an  animal  for  which  Nature  had  provided  the  Great 
Plains,  and  fitted  the  wandering  ruminant  to  withstand 
the  vicissitudes  of  fitful  climatic  extremes. 

The  accompanying  table  was  compiled  by  Colonel  Jones, 
and  presents  a  very  fair  statement  of  the  number  of  ani- 
mals roaming  over  the  Great  Plains,  and  the  number 
slaughtered,  outside  the  National  Park,  during  the  years 
specified : 


Year. 

January  1, 1865. . . 
January  1, 1870. . . 
January  1, 1871. . . 
January  1, 1872.  . . 
January  1,1873. . . 
January  1, 1874. . . 
January  1, 1875. . . 
January  1, 1876- . . 
January  1, 1877. . . 
January  1, 1878. . . 
January  1, 1879. . . 
January  1,1880  .. 
January  1,1881... 
January  1,1882  .. 
January  1,1883... 
January  1, 1884.  . . 
January  1, 1885. . . 
January  1, 1886. . . 
January  1,  1887. . . 
January  1,  1888... 
January  1, 1889. . . 


No.  of 

No.  Killed 

No.  Killed 

Buffalo. 

Past  Year. 

for  Hides. 

15,000,000 

1,000,000 

40,000 

14,000,000 

1,600,000 

800,000 

12,400,000 

4,500,000 

3,500,000 

7,500,000 

4,000,000 

3,200,000 

2,500,000 

1,000,000 

700,000 

1,500,000 

500,000 

350,000 

1,000,000 

300,000 

240.000 

700,000 

100,000 

75,000 

600,000 

75,000 

60,000 

525,000 

70,000 

50,000 

455,000 

60,000 

52,000 

395,000 

70,000 

60,000 

325,000 

80,000 

70,000 

245,000 

85,000 

77,000 

160,000 

90,000 

80,000 

70,000 

50,000 

46,000 

20,000 

15,000 

13.000 

5,000 

4,000 

3,500 

1,000 

500 

450 

500 

350 

300 

150 

150 

130 

256 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


In  this  unparalleled  slaughter,  thousands  of  individuals 
sought  the  vocation  for  a  profit.  Many  of  them  had  had 
no  experience  whatever,  and  in  thousands  of  cases  mor- 
tally wounded  their  game,  which  escaped  only  to  die  far 
from  the  place  where  they  were  shot.  In  the  foregoing 
table  Colonel  Jones  has  figured  closely  from  his  own 
observations,  and  no  doubt  is  approximately  correct. 
Some  readers  may  think  that  the  number  reported  for 
1865  somewhat  exaggerated,  but  the  Colonel  says  they 
were  like  the  angels  recorded  by  John  in  Revelation  — 
innumerable.  To  a  person  not  well  posted  on  the  subject, 
it  seems  impossible  there  could  have  been  as  many  as  re- 
lated. In  his  calculations,  Colonel  Jones  has  balanced 
the  increase  against  death  by  wantonness  and  natural 
causes.  It  will  be  observed  that  in  1871-2  was  the  great- 
est slaughter.  Farmers  on  the  frontier  left  their  excel- 
lent tracts  and  went  out  to  kill  buffalo  for  their  hides, 
which  suddenly  grew  in  demand.  It  was  a  rich  harvest 
for  them,  as  it  was  no  uncommon  thing  for  two  men  with 
a  team  to  clear  from  thirty  to  fifty  dollars  a  day,  and 
many  "outfits"  killed  as  high  as  two  hundred  of  the 
animals  in  the  same  time.  Each  "  outfit  "was  easily 
traced  over  the  prairies  by  the  peculiar  method  adopted 
of  skinning  its  game.  Some  would  take  off  the  hide  in 
excellent  shape,  leaving  the  head  on  the  carcass,  and 
then  turn  it  over  by  main  strength,  while  others  cut  off 
the  head,  and  rolled  the  carcass  on  its  back,  using  the  de- 
capitated mass  to  block  up  the  carcass,  thus  facilitating 
the  process  of  skinning.  Some  would  drive  a  sharp  steel 
rod  through  the  neck  of  the  animal  and  into  the  hard 
ground  about  eighteen  inches,  cut  around  the  head  back 
of  the  horns,  split  the  skin  on  the  belly,  skin  around  the 
legs,  then  hitch  a  rope  to  the  hide  at  the  neck,  and  at- 
tach the  rope  to  the  doubletrees  or  to  the  rear  of  the 
wagon.  To  this  the  horses  were  fastened,  and  with  a 
crack  of  the  whip  the  team  peeled  off  the  hide  as  easily  as 
taking  off  that  of  an  onion.    Others,  who  were  fortunate 


hunters'  method  of  skinning  buffalo  257 

enough  to  possess  two  teams,  would  hitch  one  of  them  to 
the  horns  of  the  buffalo,  and  the  other  to  the  skin,  thus 
holding  the  latter  solid,  and  the  team  at  the  skin  would 
at  the  word,  jerk  it  off.  Occasionally  a  man  would  go 
out  alone  on  horseback.  If  he  was  anything  of  a  u  cow- 
boy," his  operations  in  skinning  were  about  as  follows: 
After  the  upper  side  was  skinned,  he  fastened  his  lariat 
around  the  under  fore  leg  of  the  buffalo,  as  it  lay  dead  on 
the  ground ;  then  backed  his  horse  up  to  the  back  of  the 
carcass,  very  close  to  it,  and,  tying  his  rope  around  the 
horn  or  pommel  of  his  saddle,  easily  turned  the  huge 
mass  over.  Some,  who  did  not  own  a  horse,  hunted 
alone,  hiring  a  team  to  convey  them  to  the  buffalo  region, 
established  a  camp  near  one  of  a  neighbor-party,  and  then 
killed  the  buffalo,  piling  up  hides  all  over  the  prairie  for 
a  week  or  two,  then  would  hire  a  team  to  haul  them  in  to 
the  station.  These  isolated  hunters  would  alway  pray  for 
a  herd  of  cows,  as  the  bulls  were  so  immense  and  heavy 
to  handle  that  it  was  almost  useless  to  undertake  it ;  yet 
when  cows  and  young  animals  were  not  to  be  found,  they 
attacked  the  bulls. 

Their  method  of  saving  the  hides  was  to  sever  the 
head,  skin  the  upper  side  of  the  carcass,  then  take  off  the 
upper  ham  and  shoulder,  extract  the  paunch,  and  if  the 
lone  hunter  was  a  Sampson  he  could  roll  the  balance  of 
the  huge  carcass  over  so  as  to  complete  his  skinning. 
Hunting  the  bulls  alone  was  the  hardest  work,  Colonel 
Jones  says,  he  ever  attempted.  Yet  he  has  killed  as  many 
as  ten  in  one  day,  sold  the  hides  for  two  dollars  and  fifty 
cents  each,  the  hams  at  three  cents  a  pound ;  each  animal 
netting  him  eight  dollars,  or  eighty  dollars  for  his  day's 
work.  He  could  more  easily  dress  three  cows  than  one 
bull,  and  the  cows  would  net  about  five  dollars  when  near 
the  railroad,  and  the  weather  sufficiently  cool  to  permit 
the  shipment  of  the  meat  to  the  markets  of  the  large  cities. 
Nearly  every  hunting  "  outfit"  possessed  some  kind  of  a 
mark,  or  brand,  which  they  cut  on  the  hides  as  soon  as 
—  17 


258 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


skinned,  and  woe  to  the  individual  who  had  the  temerity 
to  appropriate  this  property :  no  need  of  lawyers  or  law- 
books in  those  days. 

Colonel  Jones  gives  the  following  interesting  informa- 
tion regarding  some  of  the  rules  by  which  all  hunters  on 
the  Plains  were  governed  in  the  olden  days : 

"There  were  certain  unwritten  codes  which  governed 
all  hunters,  and  he  fared  ill  who  transgressed  any  of 
them.  For  instance,  when  a  buffalo  was  killed,  with  his 
knife  the  hunter  would  cut  some  place  on  the  animal  in- 
dicating its  ownership. 

Again,  the  hunter  who  first  fired  a  shot  at  a  herd  was  as 
much  in  control  of  them,  against  all  other  parties,  as 
though  he  had  raised  them  from  calves.  No  matter  how 
badly  other  parties  needed  meat,  they  must  keep  their  dis- 
tance. 

"The  man  who  would  deliberately  pass  on  the  wind- 
ward side  of  a  herd  while  another  was  "  stalking,"  or 
creeping  up  on  them,  was  liable  to  have  a  ball  whistle 
close  to  his  ear.  While  a  1  tenderfoot '  I  tried  the  experi- 
ment, and  can  still  hear  the  whiz  of  that  rifle-ball,  which 
passed  uncomfortably  near. 

u  Should  a  crippled  animal  escape  from  a  hunter,  and 
be  killed  by  another,  the  one  who  first  drew  blood  was  the 
owner.  Two  shots  in  quick  succession  were  always  given, 
and  repeated,  until  relief  came,  when  needed. 

u  The  latch-string  of  the  hunter's  cabin  or  tent  was  al- 
ways supposed  to  be  on  the  outside  and  convenient  to  all 
visitors  excepting  the  'red  man  ' ;  in  other  words,  a  hun- 
gry or  thirsty  hunter  was  welcome  to  quench  his  thirst 
with  tea  or  coffee  and  appease  his  appetite  with  the  best 
food  in  camp,  and  share  the  blankets,  whether  the  owner 
was  at  home  or  not." 

The  American  bison  has  been  described  by  many  writ- 
ers, but  in  detached  articles.  To  do  justice  to  this  re- 
markable animal  would  require  a  whole  volume.  They 


SIZE  AND  WEIGHT  OF  BUFFALO  BULL  259 

are  purely  American  in  their  form  and  peculiar  habits ; 
bovine  in  their  anatomical  structure,  but  differing  in 
many  ways  from  the  ox,  which  is  the  type  of  the  genus 
Bos,  They  are  strangely  fitted  to  the  distinctive  features 
of  their  special  habitat,  an  extent  of  country  which  is  now 
the  garden  spot  of  the  continent,  made  exceptionally  fer- 
tile by  the  manure,  bones  and  flesh  of  the  millions  which 
have  lived  and  died  there  during  centuries  past. 

An  average-sized  bull  is  five  feet  ten  inches  in  height, 
at  the  withers ;  girth  around  the  heart,  nine  feet  three 
inches;  from  end  of  muzzle  to  tip  of  tail,  ten  feet  two 
inches.  The  hair  and  fur  on  the  shoulders  are  about  four 
inches  long,  and  on  the  hind  part,  in  winter,  about  an 
fnch  and  a  half.  The  average  weight  of  the  bulls,  when 
in  fair  condition,  is  about  nineteen  hundred  and  fifty 
pounds.  They  have  a  broad,  short  face,  with  eyes  set  in 
the  side  of  the  head,  thirteen  inches  apart,  instead  of  in 
front,  as  is  the  case  with  most  animals.  They  have 
beards  like  a  goat,  though  much  heavier,  and  often 
twelve  inches  long.  The  tail  is  the  indicator  of  the  ani- 
mal's temper,  as  he  invariably  erects  it  when  making 
any  wrathful  demonstration.  Captivity  does  not  change 
his  form  in  any  particular,  unless  when  he  is  confined  in 
small,  close  pens;  nor  is  he  changed  in  his  many  curious 
traits  and  the  acuteness  of  the  senses,  except  in  that  of 
smell ;  but  he  is  more  inactive  than  in  a  wild  state. 

The  wood  or  mountain  buffalo  was  once  quite  numerous 
in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  but  is  now  extinct.  They  were 
of  the  same  species  as  the  buffalo  of  the  Plains,  but  much 
smaller,  short-legged,  with  a  round,  "  mullet "  head,  and 
much  darker.  The  differences  in  the  characteristics  of 
the  two  breeds  were  no  doubt  caused  by  their  environ- 
ments and  by  interbreeding. 

Buffalo  seldom  roll  in  the  mud,  contrary  to  the  general 
supposition,  but  excavate  their  "wallows  "  by  pawing  up 
the  earth.  The  dust  then  blows  away,  and  their  shaggy 
coats  are  filled  with  dirt,  which  is  shaken  off  at  pleasure. 


260 


FORTY  YEARS  OF  ADVENTURES 


They  shed  their  coats  in  May,  and  regain  their  fur  as 
soon  as  the  frosty  nights  appear  in  the  fall,  the  "  guard- 
hairs  "  alone  remaining  on  through  the  heated  summer. 
Their  robes  are  prime  in  November  and  December,  the 
fur  being  dark,  soft  and  elegant;  while  later  on  it  be- 
comes faded,  harsh,  and  unattractive.  • 

Their  mating  season  commences  about  July,  and  usually 
lasts  two  months.  They  seldom  mire  in  swamps,  as  they 
have  a  happy  faculty  of  wallowing  through  the  mud  after 
the  manner  of  a  hog.  In  their  flight,  they  seldom  gallop 
uphill,  unless  closely  pursued,  but  invariably  gallop  down 
when  scared  or  followed.  When  wounded  they  leave  the 
herd  and  seek  the  most  secluded  spot  possible,  in  the 
deepest  canon,  where  they  remain  until  fully  recovered  or 
die.  They  generally  start  to  run  against  the  wind,  but  do 
not  persist  in  this  trait,  contrary  to  the  deer,  which  never 
fail  to  run  with  it  when  pursued  or  scared.  When  fright- 
ened or  pursued,  the  buffalo  move  much  more  rapidly 
when  traveling  toward  the  wind;  and  their  sense  of 
smell  is  so  acute  they  know  the  instant  there  is  danger 
ahead. 

When  you  read  of  buffaloes  "  trotting  off you  may 
rest  assured  that  the  author  of  the  statement  knows  noth- 
ing of  the  habits  of  the  animal.  They  invariably  walk  or 
gallop.  They  are  naturally  very  stubborn,  and  yield  to  an 
enemy  only  after  heroic  efforts  on  their  part.  They  never 
retrace  their  steps  after  once  starting  in  a  direction,  and 
Colonel  Jones  often  profited  in  his  hunting  adventures  by 
knowing  this  trait. 

They  never  pursue  a  straight  course  in  traveling.  Their 
eyes  are  so  placed  in  the  head  that  it  is  impossible  for 
them  to  see  directly  in  front ;  and  especially  is  this  true 
on  account  of  the  heavy  locks  on  their  forehead.  Neither 
can  they  look  backward,  on  account  of  their  immense 
shaggy  shoulders,  hence  they  are  compelled  to  keep  one 
side  or  the  other  turned  in  the  general  direction  in  which 
they  are  going.    Not  being  good  travelers  sideways,  they 


jones's  method  of  ''stalking"  buffalo  261 

look  ahead  with  one  eye  and  to  the  rear  with  the  other, 
deflecting  to  the  right  and  then  to  the  left  for  a  distance 
of  two  or  three  hundred  yards.  Thus  they  always  have 
one  eye  covering  the  ground  they  are  advancing  over,  and 
the  other  looking  behind,  watching  for  an  enemy  or  the 
horns  of  their  companions, — some  of  which  are  ever  ready 
to  test  their  strength  by  thrusting  their  sharp  weapons 
into  the  flanks  of  those  that  precede  them  on  the  trail. 

Colonel  Jones  gives  his  own  method  of  ' '  stalking"  the 
buffalo,  as  follows: 

"The  successful  hunter  managed  to  place  himself  in 
the  pathway  of  the  coming  herd ;  laid  down  in  a  ravine  or 
behind  a  knoll  or  divide,  until  they  were  as  close  as  possi- 
ble. Then  everything  depended  on  the  accuracy  of  the 
first  shot,  in  order  to  get  a  stand  on  the  herd,  and  it  was 
always  aimed  for  the  heart  or  backbone  of  the  leader, 
when  within  one  hundred  yards  of  the  animal ;  at  the 
lungs  if  farther  away.  If  the  heart  or  vertebrae  were  hit, 
the  animal  fell  in  its  tracks ;  if  in  the  lungs,  it  ran  from 
one  to  two  hundred  yards  before  dropping,  which  took 
the  herd  much  farther  off.  After  firing  the  first  shot,  I 
would  wait  until  the  animals  stopped,  which  would  be 
about  a  hundred  yards  from  the  place  where  the  wounded 
one  had  fallen.  I  would  remain  perfectly  quiet  and  mo- 
tionless until  one  of  their  number  had  assumed  leader- 
ship and  led  off  in  the  original  general  direction  of 
the  herd,  they  taking  care  to  avoid  the  dangerous  place 
where  their  leader  had  fallen.  No  sooner  were  they 
started  than  a  bullet  would  be  sent  into  the  leader's  vi- 
tals. The  herd  would  run  back  a  few  rods,  gather  into 
a  compact  mass,  and  appear  to  hold  a  council,  grunting 
and  moving  about  in  as  small  a  range  as  possible.  Then 
another  would  lead  off  to  the  other  side  of  the  danger- 
point,  but  keeping  as  near  the  old  direction  as  he  con- 
sidered safe,  when  a  well-directed  shot  would  bring  it 
down.  If  these  three  shots  were  fatal,  the  herd  was 
mine;  if  either  one  failed  to  kill,  they  went  on  their  way 


262 


FORTY  YEARS  OF  ADVENTURES 


rejoicing,  excepting  what  few  could  be  brought  down  by 
the  shots  sent  after  them  as  they  ran.  If  the  three  were 
killed,  the  herd  became  completely  demoralized,  and  none 
would  venture  to  lead,  knowing  danger  to  be  in  front  of 
them,  and  that  death  was  certain  to  any  which  attempted 
to  go  to  either  side.  Their  stubborn  natures  would  not 
allow  a  retreat.  They  would  naturally  bunch  together, 
and  stand  still  until  the  last  one  was  killed,  provided 
the  hunter  did  not  get, excited  and  fire  too  rapidly,  or 
did  not  rise  up  so  high  as  to  betray  his  whereabouts." 

The  curious  deviating  from  a  straight  course,  as  has  been 
explained,  is  the  cause  of  the  crookedness  of  the  buffalo 
trails  yet  to  be  seen  on  the  prairies  of  the  remote  west. 
Colonel  Jones  positively  affirms  that  a  trail  cannot  be 
found  anywhere  that  is  longer  than  four  hundred  yards 
without  a  change  in  direction,  yet  the  general  course  of 
the  herd  would  be  comparatively  straight  for  a  distance 
of  thirty  or  forty  miles. 

''Buffalo"  Jones,  in  his  efforts  to  perpetuate  the 
American  bison,  has  accomplished  more  than  all  others 
who  have  attempted  it  on  a  smaller  scale,  trying  to  fol- 
low his  example;  and  had  his  earnest  pleadings  to  those 
in  authority  for  help  in  carrying  out  his  project  on  a 
larger  scale,  been  listened  to,  to-day  the  Government 
would  have  been  in  possession  of  the  large  herds  then  in 
existence  in  "No  Man's  Land"  and  southeastern  Colo- 
rado, numbering  two  or  three  thousand,  and  the  increase 
of  their  progeny  for  the  past  dozen  years. 

As  early  as  1887  Colonel  Jones  went  to  the  National 
Capital,  where  he  plead  with  the  United  States  Senators 
and  Representatives  of  Kansas  in  Congress  to  enact  a  law 
which  would  protect  the  small  herd  of  buffalo  referred  to 
in  the  preceding  paragraph.  Year  after  year  he  has 
warned  our  law-makers,  and  those  higher  in  authority, 
that  unless  some  measures  were  taken  to  prevent  it  the 
bison  would  soon  become  exterminated.     All  appeared 


col.  jones's  proposition  to  the  government  263 

interested  in  having  something  done,  but  no  one  appeared 
to  take  the  initiative.  True,  Representative  Lacey,  of 
Iowa,  offered  a  resolution  giving  Colonel  Jones  a  pension 
for  life  in  recognition  of  his  success  in  rescuing  the  last 
of  the  buffalo,  but  the  Colonel  refused  to  allow  it  to  be 
considered  by  Congress. 

In  the  spring  of  1896  he  personally  called  at  the  White 
House,  and  laid  this  subject  in  all  its  details  before  Presi- 
dent Cleveland's  private  secretary,  Mr.  Thurber.  He 
also  visited  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  Hon.  Hoke 
Smith,  and  filed  a  proposition  with  his  department,  of 
which  the  following  is  a  copy: 

To  the  Honorable  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  Washington,  D.  C.: 

Having  been  notified  that  no  appropriation  was  allowed  by  Con- 
gress for  the  preservation  of  the  remaining  buffaloes  in  the  Yel- 
lowstone National  Park,  and  that  only  $1,000  is  available  that  could 
be  used  for  that  purpose,  I  hereby  make  the  following  proposition, 
with  a  view  of  preserving  them  from  a  speedy  extermination,  viz. : 
If  appointed  with  authority  to  preserve  the  buffalo  in  the  Yel- 
lowstone National  Park  for  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
I  will  furnish  the  means  myself,  proceed  at  once  to  the  Park,  and 
use  my  utmost  endeavors  in  that  direction.  If  possible,  I  will  cor- 
ral them.  If  I  should  fail,  I  will  make  a  report  to  the  Department 
of  the  true  status  of  affairs  and  what  is  needed  to  preserve  them. 

Upon  receipt  of  said  report,  the  Department  is  to  pay  me  $500. 
Should  I  succeed  in  corralling  the  herd,  or  a  portion  of  them,  I 
will  accept  $200  per  month  and  actual  expenses  while  engaged  in 
capturing  and  preserving  the  herd,  the  Government  to  have  all  the 
benefits  of  my  service ;  provided,  the  amount  be  paid  over  to  me, 
or  my  order,  within  one  year  from  my  sworn  report  and  itemized 
vouchers.  Should  the  Government  fail  to  pay  said  vouchers  as 
above  stipulated  within  one  year  from  receipt  of  my  report  and 
vouchers,  then  I  will  deliver  to  the  Interior  Department  of  the 
United  States  one-half  of  the  buffalo  captured,  and  am  to  retain 
the  remainder  of  the  buffalo  and  have  the  privilege  of  keeping 
them  corralled  in  the  Park,  or  removing  them  at  any  time  to  any 
part  of  the  world  as  my  own  property ,  or  the  property  of  those  who 
assist  me  in  my  undertaking. 

Very  respectfully,      0.  J.  Jones. 

Perry,  O.  T.,  June  9th,  1896. 


264 


FORTY  YEARS  OF  ADVENTURES 


The  Assistant  Secretary,  Mr.  Sims,  appeared  to  be  in 
earnest  as  to  the  action  necessary  to  be  taken.  He  wrote 
his  acceptance  of  the  proposition  and  signed  it,  then  sent 
it  to  Secretary  Smith  for  ratification,  but  the  latter  re- 
fused to  santion  it,  and  the  bison  were  left  to  the  mercy 
of  the  public.  When  the  Superintendent  of  the  Park 
made  his  next  annual  report  he  admitted,  "  The  hand  of 
man  is  against  the  bison,"  acknowledging,  in  a  lengthy 
report  on  that  subject,  that  there  was  no  hope  of  pre- 
serving them. 

Again,  in  April,  1897,  after  President  McKinley  had 
taken  his  seat,  and  the  new  administration  was  fairly 
settled  down  to  business,  Colonel  Jones  visited  the  City  of 
Washington,  and  found  there  was  five  thousand  dollars 
available  for  the  protection  of  the  bison  in  the  Yellow- 
stone National  Park.  He  was  confident  that  not  to  ex- 
ceed twenty  or  thirty  of  these  animals  were  yet  remaining 
there,  but  believing  some  measures  should  be  taken  for 
their  preservation,  and  to  enlighten  the  American  people 
on  that  subject,  he  submitted  a  proposition  to  the  Interior 
Department,  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy : 

New  York  City,  April  26,  1897. 

Hon.  Thomas  Ryan,  First  Asst.  Secretary  Interior — Dear  Sir:  I 
desire  to  call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  American  bison  is 
on  the  verge  of  extermination.  A  great  number  of  the  magnifi- 
cent herd  that  roamed  in  the  Yellowstone  National  Park  have 
been  slain  without  mercy  in  the  past  two  years.  As  near  as  can 
be  estimated,  250  out  of  the  300  have  been  wantonly  murdered, 
for  their  valuable  heads  and  hides.  Unless  heroic  measures  are 
adopted  at  once,  the  remaining  few  will  meet  the  fate  of  their 
kind  before  another  year  passes. 

Having  had  many  years  of  active  experience  in  capturing  and 
rearing  over  one  hundred  head  of  these  noble  animals,  I  am  con- 
fident the  only  thing  to  do  is  to  corral  the  remaining  band, 
and  thereby  reproduce  a  herd  that  every  true  American  will  be 
proud  of. 

I  have  captured  and  reared  with  my  own  hands  buffalo  of  all 
ages,  and  know  every  trait  and  habit  of  the  animal.  I  could  refer 
you  to  thousands  who  would  testify  to  my  success  in  rescuing  and 


NO  ACTION  TAKEN 


265 


preserving  the  bison,  as  well  as  all  other  valuable  American  ani- 
mals that  inhabit  my  latitude. 

If  the  Government  desires  the  American  bison  rescued  and  per- 
petuated, and  will  give  me  reasonable  pay,  I  will  be  pleased  to 
undertake  it.  Confident  that  it  can  and  should  be  speedily  ac- 
complished, I  am 

Yours  very  truly, 

(Signed)   C.  J.  Jones, 

("Buffalo  Jones.") 

Unfortunately,  no  action  was  ever  taken  by  the  Depart- 
ment upon  these  propositions,  and  the  United  States  lost 
forever  its  greatest  race  of  native  animals. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1898,  by  close  calculation, 
there  were  over  five  hundred  domesticated  buffalo  scat- 
tered throughout  the  world,  the  lineage  of  which  is  traced 
back  to  the  efforts  of  Colonel  Jones. 


CHAPTER  XVII 


ONE  OF  THE  GEEATEST  EAOES  ON  RECOKD 

OPENING  OF  THE  CHEROKEE  OUTLET —  OKLAHOMA,  u  THE 
BEAUTIFUL  LAND "  HORSES  AND  RIDERS  TRAMPLED  BE- 
NEATH A  LIVING  AVALANCHE — GENUINE  "  JEHU  "  AND 
RED-HEADED  GIRL  IN  THE  RACE  —  THE  MOST  RECKLESS 
EQUESTRIENNE  IN  THE  WORLD  —  FACTS  NEVER  BEFORE 
MADE  KNOWN  REGARDING  THE  OPENING  OF  OKLAHOMA 

WHEN  the  proclamation  of  President  Cleveland 
was  promulgated,  Colonel  Jones  was  living  in 
Omaha,  Nebraska.  He  realized  there  was  to 
be  a  great  race,  and  knowing  so  well  the  art  of 
making  long  and  successful  rides,  he  determined  to  once 
more  enjoy  the  sensation  so  often  realized  during  his  life 
of  adventure,  and  lost  no  time  in  getting  in  line.  He  re- 
lates the  advent  of  the  opening  in  a  clear  and  dispassion- 
ate manner,  as  follows : 

44  Many,  many  years  ago,  I  read  in  a  newspaper: 
'  There  is  a  tract  of  country  about  as  large  as  the  State 
of  Massachusetts,  lying  south  of  Kansas  in  the  Indian 
Territory,  called  in  the  Indian  language,  'Oklahoma,' 
which  by  interpretation  means  'The  Beautiful  Land.' 
Little  did  I  at  the  time  think  that  I  should  be  the  first 
paleface  to  enter  that  picturesque  spot  for  a  home.  A 
third  of  a  century  rolled  on ;  then  the  newspapers  an- 
nounced that  a  portion  of  '  the  beautiful  land  '  (  known 
as  the  Cherokee  Outlet,  in  Oklahoma)  would  be  thrown 
open  to  settlement  on  September  16th,  1893;  that  it  was 

(266) 


OPENING  OF  THE  CHEROKEE  OUTLET 


267 


unlawful  for  any  person  to  enter  upon  that  land  or  even 
pass  over  it  prior  to  that  date.  The  penalty  for  violation 
was  a  forfeiture  of  any  and  all  rights  to  '  prove  up  '  on  a 
tract  of  land  or  a  town  lot.  It  will  be  remembered  the 
'Outlet'  was  a  tract  of  land  seventy  miles  wide  adjoin- 
ing Kansas  on  the  south,  and  extending  from  the  Arkan- 
sas river  on  the  east  .300  miles  to  the  westward.  It  was 
known  as  the  1  Cherokee  Outlet,'  from  the  fact  that  it  was 
many  years  ago  set  apart  by  Congress  as  an  outlet  for  the 
Cherokee  Indians  to  the  Great  Plains,  where  roamed 
millions  of  buffalo  upon  which  the  red  men  depended  for 
food.  The  Government  finally  bought  this  tract  of  land 
from  the  rightful  owners,  the  Cherokee  Indians,  and  or- 
ganized a  '  free-for-all '  race  to  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  to  determine  who  should  win  the  prizes  to  be 
given  away. 

"  At  this  particular  contest — for  that  is  just  what  it  was 
—  the  Government  offered  a  quarter-section  of  land  and  a 
town  lot  to  the  one  first  establishing  himself  thereon.  All 
were  to  start  simultaneously  from  the  line  bordering  the 
strip.  Thus  it  required  horsemanship  of  the  highest 
order,  as  there  were  about  six  contestants  for  each  tract 
of  land.  Paul  Revere,  Putnam,  Jennie  McNeal  and  Gen- 
eral Sheridan  all  have  left  the  never-dying  story  of  their 
dashing  and  daring  rides.  They  were  inspired  by  purely 
patriotic  motives,  yet  so  far  as  the  physical  aspect  of 
their  memorable  deeds  is  concerned,  the  history  of  this 
opening  presents  acts  of  individual  nerve,  dash,  and  en- 
durance, equally,  if  not  more  wonderful.  Although  the 
promptings  were  entirely  of  self-interest,  these  rides  were 
comparable  to  anything  which  has  been  attempted  in 
feats  of  horsemanship.  Many  of  those  who  rode  in  that 
fearful  struggle,  some  of  whom  went  down  to  their  death, 
will  no  doubt  be  regarded  by  generations  to  come  as 
heroes  and  heroines ;  for  after  all,  it  is  frequently  the  act 
of  the  person  and  not  always  the  motive  inspiring  him 
which  causes  him  to  be  regarded  as  such. 


268 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


"It  being  contrary  to  law  to  enter  the  coveted  land 
before  high  noon,  of  that  date,  compelled  thousands  to 
congregate  at  the  nearest  point,  nine  miles  south  of 
Perry,  where  was  located  the  United  States  land  office, 
and  all  knew  it  would  be  the  largest  city  in  the  Territory. 
United  States  soldiers  were  stationed  along  the  line  to 
guard  against  intruders  and  give  the  signal  at  the  ap- 
pointed time,  when  all  were  at  liberty  to  enter  legally. 
A  great  many  had  stolen  through  the  line  the  night  be- 
fore, and  were  classed  as  4  sooners.' 

' '  I  was  waiting  on  the  extreme  left  of  the  assembled 
throng,  with  two  horses, —  my  old  buffalo-horse  'Jubar' 
and  the  strongest  and  best  race-horse  to  be  had  in  the 
State  of  Nebraska ;  each  one  rigged  with  the  lightest  sad- 
dle possible,  weighing  only  eight  pounds  each,  while  a 
strong  rope  about  three  feet  long,  attached  to  the  ring  of 
the  cinch  of  each  saddle,  held  the  horses  together.  I  had 
learned  while  running  wild  horses  on  the  Plains  that  the 
poorest  old  wild  horse  I  ever  found  could  outwind  the  best 
blooded  grain-fed  thoroughbred  attainable.  I  had  rea- 
soned out  the  cause  to  be  that  the  wild  horse  carried  no 
load,  while  the  thoroughbred  was  compelled  to  carry 
about  one  hundred  and  seventy  pounds,  including  saddle, 
which  '  cut  his  wind  '  very  quickly.  I  often  experimented 
at  riding  two  horses  in  the  chase  after  buffalo  calves.  The 
method  adopted  was :  As  soon  as  the  horse  ridden  com- 
menced to  wheeze,  I  would  quickly  change  to  the  other, 
without  checking  them  in  the  least ;  the  horse  would  im- 
mediately catch  his  wind,  and  by  the  time  the  other  be- 
came winded,  the  first  would  be  fairly  rested,  when  I 
would  change  back  to  him.  By  thus  changing  back  and 
forth  I  could  make  unprecedentedly  long  races  and  quick 
time.  The  change  was  made  by  throwing  the  leg  over  the 
horse's  neck  toward  the  one  I  desired  to  mount,  in  the 
style  a  lady  rides,  then,  placing  it  on  the  rope  which  held 
the  horses  together,  I  threw  the  other  leg  over  the  horse's 


THE  RACE  FOR  CLAIMS 


209 


back,  and  was  firm  in  the  saddle,  without  checking,  no 
difference  at  what  rate  of  speed  we  were  going. 

"  With  this  knowledge  and  experience  I  took  my  place 
in  the  great  cavalcade  with  as  much  confidence  and  deter- 
mination to  win  the  race  as  if  all  others  had  been  mounted 
on  Mexican  burros.  Many  of  the  would-be  winners  asked 
what  I  intended  to  do  with  the  extra  horse.  I  made  no 
explanation,  excepting  that  I  intended  to  ride  him.  No 
one  had  the  least  idea  of  my  intentions  until  about  a 
mile  after  starting,  when  those  nearest  witnessed  the 
first  change  from  one  horse  to  the  other  while  going  with 
such  terrific  speed.  Instead  of  being  angry,  as  I  had  sup- 
posed would  be  the  case,  a  great  shout  went  up  from  fully 
a  hundred  or  more,  while  those  nearest  expressed  them- 
selves in  such  language  as,  'That's  the  fellow  that  will 
get  there!  He 's  a  winner,'  etc.,  no  doubt  realizing  they 
were  racing  under  disadvantages. 

''There  were  fully  eight  thousand  horsemen  who  awaited 
the  signal  at  the  starting-point.  As  the  noon  hour  ap- 
proached they  became  more  and  more  anxious ;  even  the 
horses  realized  that  a  great  race  was  in  prospect,  as  they 
pawed  the  earth,  reared  and  snorted  in  their  eagerness  to 
go.  The  horsemen  were  lined  up  twenty  deep,  one  be- 
hind the  other,  standing  side  by  side  for  a  mile  along  the 
line. 

"The  soldiers  rode  back  and  forth  in  front  of  the  vast 
array,  to  see  that  no  one  entered  before  the  proper  time. 
When  'high  noon  '  arrived,  one  of  the  soldiers  discharged 
his  gun,  which  all  understood  to  be  the  signal  to  start, 
and  the  great  race  was  on.  It  was  one  of  the  most  excit- 
ing and  desperate  struggles  ever  recorded. 

"  Being  on  the  extreme  left,  I  started  straight  north  for 
Perry.  Fortunately,  the  divide  swung  to  the  northwest, 
and  soon  I  was  on  its  crest.  Having  been  in  so  many  ex- 
citing races  on  the  Plains,  and  in  lassoing  and  driving 
buffalo  bulls  in  chariot-races,  I  was  not  disturbed  in  the 
least,  consequently  noticed  many  things  which  no  doubt 


* 


270  FORTY  YEARS  OF  ADVENTURES 

others  failed  to  recognize.  The  first  thing  that  attracted 
my  attention  after  starting  was  the  mighty  buzz  and  roar 
of  the  horses  striking  the  weeds  and  grass  with  their  feet, 
and  the  rattle  of  their  hoofs  on  the  hard,  dry  earth.  It 
brought  back  most  vividly  the  olden  days,  as  it  was  a 
duplicate  of  the  sensation  when  in  close  proximity  to  a 
buffalo  stampede. 

"  When  about  a  mile  out,  and  just  after  changing  from 
my  race-horse  to  Jubar,  I  heard  someone  in  the  rear  shout 
in  thundering  tones,  '  Get  out  of  the  road!  Get  out  of 
the  road ! '  I  was  just  slacking  up  a  little  in  order  to 
cross  an  old  trail  which  had  been  partly  grown  over  with 
grass,  and  fearing  a  deep  gutter  was  hidden  beneath,  hav- 
ing been  whipped  out  by  the  wind,  as  is  often  the  case, 
I  knew  it  would  be  dangerous  to  go  at  full  speed  across  it. 
When  safely  over,  I  looked  back  and  saw  a  magnificent 
team  of  horses  hitched  to  a  buckboard,  and  a  man  stand- 
ing thereon,  his  coat  off,  while  he  was  laying  on  the  lash 
unmercifully.  On  the  seat  sat  a  young  woman,  with  hair 
as  red  as  red  could  be.  Just  then  the  horses  leaped  the 
old  trail,  the  wheels  went  deep  into  the  gutter,  then  flew 
high  in  the  air,  which  sent  the  man  and  woman  fully  four 
feet  upward.  As  they  came  down,  both  grabbed  the  seat, 
holding  on  for  their  lives.  The  horses  circled  to  the  left, 
and  it  was  the  last  I  saw  of  the  £  Jehu '  and  his  red-headed 
darling.  The  ridiculousness  of  this  incident  afforded  me 
so  much  amusement  that  I  indulged  in  a  good  hearty 
laugh,  which  I  could  not  help,  though  I  knew  they  must 
have  been  badly  hurt  and  their  lives  in  peril. 

"Just  as  I  was  making  my  second  change  of  horses, 
about  two  miles  out,  a  horse  ahead  of  me  fell  dead.  The 
animal  I  was  mounting  gave  a  tremendous  leap  to  clear 
the  feet  of  the  fallen  beast,  which  precipitated  my  right 
foot  to  the  ground  between  my  two  horses.  Having  a 
good  grip  on  the  horn  of  each  saddle,  and  my  left  foot 
across  the  rope  which  held  them  together,  I  gave  a  spring 
from  the  ground  while  the  horse  was  high  in  the  air,  and 


PASSING  THE   "  SOONERS  " 


271 


with  a  mighty  pull  with  my  arms  as  he  came  down,  I  went 
up  safely  into  the  saddle.  On  looking  back  I  shouted  to 
the  unfortunate  man,  '  Stick  your  stake  and  claim  the 
land !  '  It  was  a  beautiful  tract,  but  I  afterward  learned 
that  the  man's  leg  was  broken  in  the  fall,  and  that  he  was 
sent  to  his  Eastern  home.  I  learned  also  that  the  soldier 
who  gave  the  signal  had  his  horse  knocked  down,  and  both 
horse  and  rider  were  trampled  to  death  by  the  resistless 
avalanche. 

"  When  within  three  miles  of  Perry,  two  men  and  a 
lady,  '  sooners,'  came  dashing  up  out  of  a  ravine  just  to 
my  right.  Having  fresh  horses  they  had  advantage  of  all 
others.  The  lady  rode  a  jet-black  charger,  and  was  one  of 
the  most  reckless  horsewomen  I  ever  saw,  and  would  have 
done  credit  to  the  '  Rough  Riders.'  I  whipped  my  horses 
severely,  but  could  not  pass  her.  It  was  humiliating  to  be 
compelled  to  go  into  Perry  with  a  lady  leading.  I  jumped 
to  my  old  favorite  buffalo-horse  Jubar,  cut  the  rope  that 
held  the  horses  together,  and  dashed  past  the  mysterious 
equestrienne.  On  looking  ahead,  I  saw  the  two  houses  which 
composed  the  city  of  Perry.  The  trail  made  a  detour  to 
the  left  in  order  to  descend  a  steep  bluff,  which  dropped 
off  into  a  deep  valley,  lined  with  trees  and  brush.  Seeing 
nearly  a  mile  could  be  saved  by  making  straight  for  the 
houses,  I  left  the  trail  and  went  thundering  down  the 
bluff  for  fear  the  lady  would  again  pass  me.  The  grass 
was  high  on  the  side-hills  and  hid  innumerable  flat  rocks, 
some  ten  feet  square,  and  Jubar  was  right  among  them  be- 
fore I  knew  of  their  presence.  Knowing  he  was  sure- 
footed, I  quickly  decided  it  would  be  better  to  let  him 
have  his  own  way  than  to  check  him,  for  by  so  doing  I 
would  throw  him  off  his  well-directed  course.  Having  a 
slack  rein  he  never  checked  his  gait,  but  passed  safely 
over  precipitous  rocks  with  almost  incredible  speed. 
About  half-way  down  I  saw  that  he  was  going  to  land  on 
a  large  flat  stone  which  was  tilted  up  at  an  angle  of  about 
forty  degrees.   I  felt  certain  his  feet  would  go  from  under 


272 


FORTY  YEARS  OF  ADVENTURES 


him  and  he  would  land  on  his  left  side.  I  quickly  jerked 
my  left  leg  up  high,  that  I  might  not  be  caught  as  many 
are  who  fail  to  keep  their  legs  in  an  advantageous  position 
when  on  a  falling  horse ;  but,  contrary  to  my  expecta- 
tion, he  appeared  merely  to  touch  the  stone,  just  enough 
to  send  him  to  a  good  footing,  and  I  breathed  much  easier 
when  we  reached  the  trees  and  brush.  In  the  descent  I 
passed  eight  or  ten  horsemen,  and  continued  the  wild  ride 
until  reaching  the  ravine,  which  was  about  eight  feet 
across,  with  a  high  bank  close  beyond.  I  reined  the  horse 
a  little  diagonally,  and  he  made  one  of  his  famous 
leaps  and  passed  along  without  checking.  I  then  crossed 
the  main  stream  and  ascended  an  almost  perpendicular 
bank  about  forty  feet  high,  which  was  accomplished  by 
the  horse  running  up  obliquely  while  I  ran  at  his  side 
until  reaching  the  level,  when  I  was  again  on  his  back. 
In  ascending  I  passed  the  last  two  competitors,  and  it  ap- 
pears to  me  the  fastest  race  I  ever  made  was  the  last  mile 
to  the  claim  adjoining  Perry  on  the  south,  where  I  stuck 
my  flag  and  claimed  the  land  as  a  homestead.  I  then 
proceeded  to  the  4  city,'  arriving  there  before  all  others, 
except  '  sooners.' 

"My  race-horse  I  never  saw  afterward,  but  learned 
that  the  lady  and  her  escorts  while  following  me  came  to 
the  ravine  which  Jubar  had  so  gallantly  cleared,  and  here 
her  horse  while  attempting  to  leap  the  ravine  went  with 
such  force  across  it  that  he  struck  the  bank  and  broke  his 
neck.  The  gentlemen  caught  my  race-horse,  which  was 
endeavoring  to  follow  me.  The  lady  mounted  it,  and  ar- 
rived at  Perry  in  time  to  secure  a  valuable  lot  just  east 
of,  and  facing  the  public  square.  This  lot  she  sold  within 
a  week  for  five  hundred  dollars.  Being  a  'sooner,'  she 
could  not  have  proved  up  on  it,  and  merely  sold  her  quit- 
claim. The  lady  was  from  the  Indian  Territory,  near 
the  Creek  Nation.  She  was  known  to  all  that  portion  of 
the  country  as  one  of  the  best  deer-  and  turkey-hunters  of 
the  region,  and  took  great  delight  in  riding  her  race- 


DESPERADOES 


273 


horses  with  deer-dogs  in  pursuit  of  the  wild  animals  of 
that  country.  I  am  only  sorry  I  do  not  remember  the 
name  of  this,  one  of  the  greatest  equestriennes  of  the  age. 

"  Jubar  that  day  made  his  last  race,  as  I  promised  that 
if  we  won  he  should  forever  be  on  the  retired  list ;  and  he 
now  roams  the  green  pastures  of  4  The  Beautiful  Land.'  " 


During  Colonel  Jones's  long  and  eventful  career  on  the 
extreme  frontier  he  has  met  with  all  kinds  of  desperadoes, 
and  some  who,  though  always  having  possessed  good  repu- 
tations, would  be  much  scandalized  should  their  true  char- 
acter be  made  public.  In  private  the  Colonel  has  related 
to  me  some  of  the  most  daring  and  reckless  personal  ad- 
ventures that  occurred  in  the  palmy  days  of  such  charac- 
ters as  the  James  and  Younger  brothers,  and  later  with 
"  Billy  the  Kid,"  whom  the  Colonel  helped  to  capture  in 
1882,  in  New  Mexico.  He  was  often  accosted  by  stage- 
and  bank-robbers,  footpads,  cattle-  and  horse -thieves. 
But  he  refrains  from  allowing  anything  recorded  in  this 
book  of  such  experience ;  giving  as  a  reason  that  there  are 
so  many  false  narratives  floating  through  the  country  rel- 
ative to  such  characters,  the  reader  might  confound  the 
truth  with  fiction. 


—  18 


SECOND  PART. 


BUFFALO  JONES'S  ARCTIC  EXPEDITION. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

BUFFALO  JONES 

BOUND  FOR  THE  ARCTIC  REGIONS  AFTER  MUSK-OXEN  AND 
OTHER  ANIMALS' — ROUTE  THROUGH  CANADA  —  WHITE  GIRL 
HELD  AS  CAPTIVE  BY  INDIANS  —  IN  A  BOAT,  ALL  ALONE, 
LEAVES    CIVILIZATION  —  NATIVES    OPPOSE    HIS    MISSION  — 

BOAT  CAPSIZES  AND  INDIANS  REFUSE  HIS  "  LIFE-LINE  "  

SUNSTROKE  IN  A  FRIGID  ZONE — CROSSING  LAKE  ATHA- 
BASKA  —  ON  THE  PEACE  AND  SLAVE  RIVERS — BIG  CHIEFS 
HOLD  A  COUNCIL  TO  PREVENT  HIS  PROGRESS 


AFTER  Colonel  Jones  had  spent  several  years  on  the 
coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  whose  cHmate  did 
not  suit  his  active  nature,  and  under  its  influence 
he  was  becoming  sluggish,  he  returned  to  Okla- 
homa, where  he  served  as  sergeant-at-arms  in  the  House 
of  Representatives. 

After  the  session  closed,  he  became  restless  and  the 
spirit  of  adventure  swelled  within  him.  He  had  often 
read  of  the  mighty  musk-ox,  the  most  remote  animal  of 
the  world,  and  realized  there  never  had  been  any  in  cap- 
tivity. Although  it  was  almost  like  crossing  the  "  river 
Jordan,"  and  into  another  world,  he  never  rested  until  on 
his  way  to  the  lonely  shores  of  the  Arctic  Ocean. 

(  277) 


278 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


He  narrates  that  most  wonderful  of  expeditions  that  he 
(  and  I  might  say,  or  any  other  man )  ever  attempted  and 
survived.  When  the  reader  remembers  that  Sir  John 
Franklin,  a  half-century  ago,  with  one  hundred  and 
thirty-seven  heroes,  backed  by  the  British  Government 
and  with  the  cooperation  of  the  United  States  and  Can- 
ada, as  well  as  the  friendship  of  the  northern  Indians,  all 
perished  in  that  far-away  northern  zone,  he  will  concede, 
at  least,  that  Colonel  Jones's  stupendous  undertaking 
(  part  of  the  journey  all  alone,  and  never  to  exceed  one 
companion  )  surpasses  anything  in  the  way  of  northern 
explorations  ever  accomplished.  It  also  proves  that  the 
Colonel  is  not  only  a  hunter  of  exceptional  skill,  but  a 
"  killer  "  as  well,  or  he  would  have  perished  from  starva- 
tion. 

He  relates  the  facts  of  his  daring  undertaking  in  this 
and  the  following  chapters : 

"At  daybreak  on  the  12th  of  June,  1897,  I  boarded 
the  lightning  express  train  of  the  A.  T.  &  S.  F.  Ry., 
at  Perry,  Oklahoma,  for  the  Arctic  regions,  and  ere  I 
returned  the  sun  had  risen  and  set  four  hundred  and 
ninety-five  times. 

"My  route  was  by  way  of  St.  Joseph,  Omaha  and  St. 
Paul  to  Winnipeg,  in  Canada.  From  there  I  went  about 
a  thousand  miles  northwest  to  Calgary,  on  the  Canadian 
Pacific  R.  R. 

"  When  near  it,  the  largest  city  of  that  far-away  north- 
ern country,  we  found  all  the  creeks  and  ravines  swollen 
into  rivers.  There  had  been  a  great  flood  —  no  one  knew 
to  what  extent,  as  no  news  had  been  received  from  either 
the  west  or  north.  The  telegraph  wires  were  all  down, 
and  no  doubt  there  were  innumerable  washouts,  as  no 
trains  had  been  met  or  heard  of,  from  those  directions, 
for  twenty-four  hours. 

"At  last  we  came  in  sight  of  Calgary,  on  the  south  fork 
of  the  Saskatchewan  river,  which  must  be  crossed  to  get 
to  the  city.    The  train  was  halted,  and  all  the  crew  walked 


CROSSING  A  DANGEROUS  BRIDGE 


279 


ahead  to  inspect  the  bridge.  The  water  was  up  to  the 
stringers,  and  an  angry-looking  torrent  it  was. 

"  The  majority  of  the  inspectors  decided  it  was  passa- 
ble, but  one  of  the  passengers,  who  took  it  upon  himself 
to  speak  on  all  occasions  for  the  traveling  public,  ob- 
jected most  strenuously,  declaring  he  was  an  expert  rail- 
road man,  and  that  the  train  would  surely  go  down,  as 
the  bridge  was  already  more  or  less  twisted  and  wrenched 
from  its  proper  place.  Presently  the  bell  rang  and  the 
train  moved  slowly  ahead,  while  the  i  guardian  of  the  pub- 
lic '  stood  on  the  ground  near  the  end  of  the  bridge  wait- 
ing for  the  train  to  be  submerged  and  then  he  could  say, 

*  I  told  you  so.' 

"The  cars  barely  moved,  which  made  it  evident  that 
the  engineer  realized  the  danger  which  unquestionably 
threatened  him.  The  bridge  vibrated  to  and  fro,  but  that 
was  all,  and  the  great  6  mogul '  engine  was  soon  safe  on 
the  embankment.  Before  the  last  car  entered  the  bridge, 
when  the  rear  end  of  the  train  was  passing  our  excited 

*  protector,'  he  caught  the  railing  and  swung  upon  the 
platform  of  the  rear  coach,  and  we  were  soon  in  the  once 
beautiful  city. 

"  Everything  appeared  to  be  wild  with  excitement ;  even 
the  animals  showed  it.  The  horses  running  loose  carried 
their  heads  high  and  trotted  over  the  vacant  blocks,  tails 
up,  and  occasionally  snorted  as  if  danger  were  imminent. 
The  dogs  barked  and  howled  alternately. 

"As  soon  as  I  arrived  at  the  Queen's  Hotel,  I  could  see 
people  lining  up  along  the  banks  of  Bow  river,  that  skirted 
the  city  on  the  north.  Some  had  ropes,  others  axes  and 
all  kinds  of  sticks  and  poles.  It  did  not  take  long  to  de- 
termine what  caused  the  excitement.  I  could  see  houses 
in  the  river,  upset  in  almost  every  conceivable  shape ; 
some  were  on  their  sides,  others  bottom  upward,  some 
floating  down  the  river,  and  others  sliding  gradually  into 
it.  I  found  the  great  iron  bridge  had  been  undermined 
and  warped  in  all  kinds  of  shapes.    Wagons  and  horses 


280 


FORTY  YEARS  OF  ADVENTURES 


could  not  cross,  neither  would  the  police  permit  pedes- 
trians to  pass. 

"On  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  were  hundreds  of 
white  teepees,  which  I  learned  were  occupied  by  Indians 
from  far  and  near,  who  had  assembled  to  do  honor  to  the 
Queen's  Jubilee,  which  was  to  occur  the  next  day.  For 
months  they  had  been  looking  forward  to  that  eventful 
time,  and  the  longed-for  day  was  near,  when  they  contem- 
plated a  great  feast,  and  thus  to  show  to  the  agents  of  the 
Great  Mother  that  they  were  loyal,  and  no  longer  the  hos- 
tile bands  that  had  been  the  terror  of  that  God-forsaken 
country  for  a  length  of  time  that  the  memory  of  man 
could  not  compute.  They  realized  that  in  order  to  secure 
plenty  of  provisions,  they  must  come  with  all  their  tribes 
to  the  Mecca  of  the  Western  World  and  show  their  devo- 
tion to  the  Great  Mother.  They  made  as  big  a  show  as 
possible,  and  all  put  on  their  best, —  which  was  generally 
a  pair  of  overalls  and  a  plaid  shirt  for  the  men,  and  calico 
dresses  for  the  women.  They  brought  their  ponies,  dogs, 
squaws,  papooses, —  in  fact  everything,  even  the  halt  and 
the  blind  members  of  their  tribes.  No  one  able  to  hobble 
could  be  induced  to  stay  behind;  therefore  all  came. 

"I  soon  learned  that  ar^mysterious  white  girl  had  for 
the  first  time  in  many  years  been  brought  within  the  pale 
of  civilization.  I  had  once  heard  there  was  such  a  per- 
son held  in  captivity  by  a  tribe  or  lodge  of  Blackfeet  In- 
dians, and  was  very  anxious  to  learn  all  I  could  concerning 
her  whereabouts,  ancestors,  and  how  she  was  being  treated. 
But  the  question  then  was  how  to  cross  the  river  to  where 
the  red  men  had  pitched  their  tents. 

"  The  police  were  guarding  the  wrecked  bridge,  as  there 
was  no  certainty  what  minute  it  would  be  submerged.  By 
assuring  them  I  was  intending  to  assist  a  man,  already  on 
the  dangerous  structure,  to  fasten  a  rope  to  a  house  lodged 
against  the  upper  side,  near  the  shore  where  we  stood,  they 
allowed  me  to  pass.  I  made  a  noose  in  the  rope,  threw  it 
over  the  corner  of  the  house,  and  handed  the  man  the  line. 


RECOGNIZED  BY  THE  EX-CONVICT 


281 


He  commenced  to  work  his  way  to  shore,  and  I  concluded 
then  (and  to  be  sure  not  before)  to  get  to  the  opposite 
shore.  This  was  accomplished  by  descending  a  swag  in 
the  bridge  to  the  water's  edge ;  then  I  went  hand  over 
hand,  clinging  to  a  railing,  to  where  the  bridge  stood  at  its 
proper  height.  I  found  the  police  guarding  the  north  as 
well  as  the  south  end  of  the  bridge.  There  was  no  trouble 
to  get  off  the  bridge,  but  getting  on  was  a  different  propo- 
sition. There  was  a  great  throng  of  Indians  at  the  north 
end,  all  anxious  to  enter  the  city.  I  grasped  the  rope  that 
was  stretched  across  the  entrance  to  keep  the  surging 
crowds  from  forcing  the  police  backward,  and  slipped  un- 
der. 

"Here  I  found  myself  among  an  excited  band  of  In- 
dians. One  big  ugly-looking  redskin  made  a  surge  toward 
me,  and  shouted  in  broken  English,  4  How,  Buffalo  Jones  !  ' 
I  was  dumbfounded.  Could  it  be  possible  that  some  of 
the  enemies  I  had  battled  with  many  years  ago  had  wan- 
dered to  this  far-away  country  ?  All  the  encounters  I  had 
ever  had  with  various  Indians  during  my  long  career  on 
the  Plains,  flashed  through  my  mind.  I  had  seen  the  fel- 
low before,  and  as  soon  as  the  first  flash  of  the  startled 
sensation  had  passed,  I  responded, £<  Hello,  Number  Nine !  ' 
It  was  cruel  in  me  to  betray  the  poor  fellow,  but  it  was 
not  intended  on  my  part.  He  was  sharp,  and  could  speak 
fair  English.  '  My  name  is  Jack,'  was  his  quick  response. 
I  caught  my  senses  and  said,  '  Yes,  Jack,  I  know  you  well ; 
you  were  number  nine  of  our  hunting  party,  six  years  ago, 
after  moose  in  Manitoba.'  'Oh,  yes,'  he  said;  'didn't 
we  have  a  h — 1  of  a  time  with  that  old  bull  moose  ?  '  I 
said,  4  Don't  mention  it,'  and  beckoned  him  to  follow  me, 
which  he  did  (with  pleasure,  no  doubt). 

44  The  facts  were  the  Indian  was  an  ex-convict  from  the 
penitentiary  at  Stony  Mountain,  Manitoba,  Canada.  He 
was  a  very  active  cowboy,  and  an  expert  with  the  lasso. 
I  had  purchased  sixty-five  buffaloes  from  the  warden  of  the 
penitentiary,  Samuel  Bedson;  and  when  I  desired  to  lasso 


282 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


and  hobble  them  in  order  to  get  the  unruly  brutes  to  the 
cars,  they  brought  out  'No.  Nine,'  to  assist  me.  At  the 
penitentiary  the  only  way  a  convict  is  designated  is  by 
his  number;  by  name,  never.  Therefore  I  addressed  him 
as  'Number  Nine.'  Luckily  I  turned  it  off  so  that  the 
English-speaking  Indians,  and  the  white  people,  standing 
near,  did  not  mistrust  his  identity,  as  he  was  not  known  in 
that  locality  as  a  jail-bird.  Now  I  was  delighted  to  meet 
even  an  ex-convict  so  far  from  my  native  land ;  besides, 
there  were  hopes  of  finding  the  white  captive  that  I  so 
much  desired  to  meet.  Although  a  Cree,  Jack  could  speak 
the  Blackfeet  language.  He  knew  the  girl  quite  well,  and 
assured  me  he  knew  where  she  was.  He  told  me  the  In- 
dians had  kept  her  as  far  from  the  city  as  possible,  and 
would  never  permit  her  to  be  alone,  for  fear  the  white 
people  would  steal  her.  From  Jack  I  learned  the  girl 
was  fully  seventeen  years  old,  and  lived  with  'Winnipeg 
Jack  '  and  his  squaw ;  that  they  had  raised  her  from  a 
babe.  They  had  once  lived  in  Montana,  U.  S.  A.,  and 
while  at  Fort  Benton,  seventeen  years  before,  there  was  a 
great  storm  that  covered  all  the  earth  with  a  white  blanket 
of  snow.  The  morning  after  the  storm  had  abated,  a 
beautiful  paleface  woman  appeared  at  their  wigwam  with 
a  bundle  in  her  arms.  They  asked  her  in,  and  built  a 
big  fire.  Presently  she  removed  a  heavy  shawl  from  the 
bundle,  and  there  was  a  beautiful  little  babe,  about  two 
weeks  old.  Jack's  squaw  had  also  a  young  papoose  girl ; 
but  what  a  contrast !  The  strange  woman  was  well  dressed, 
and  apparently  quite  young.  She  told  Winnipeg  Jack, 
as  his  squaw  could  not  speak  English  then,  that  she  wanted 
them  to  take  her  babe  and  raise  it;  that  she  had  no  hus- 
band, and  was  going  to  leave  it.  Jack,  told  her  they  had 
one  papoose,  but  she  rose  and  left  the  babe  lying  on  a 
deerskin  mat, — and  that  was  the  last  and  all  they  knew 
of  the  mysterious  paleface,  except  what  an  old  pilot  on  a 
steamboat  at  the  wharf  had  told  them.  He  said  that  the 
mother  of  the  babe  was  from  St.  Louis;  had  come  up  the 


"  WHITE  BLANKET  " 


283 


Missouri  river  on  his  boat ;  had  been  deceived  by  a  man 
that  he  knew  well,  and  to  hide  her  misfortune  had  taken 
the  opportunity  of  giving  the  child  a  chance  for  its  life. 
The  big  brave  and  his  squaw  soon  became  attached  to  the 
little  stranger,  and  when  they  realized  they  were  to  keep 
it,  were  at  a  loss  for  a  suitable  name  for  the  fair  little 
white  waif.  They  remembered  the  storm  when  it  came  to 
their  wigwam,  and  as  it  was  as  white  as  the  blanket  of  snow 
that  had  spread  itself  over  the  face  of  the  earth,  they 
gave  her  the  name  of  '  White  Blanket.'  And  thus  the  lit- 
tle paleface  was  christened,  and  her  name  became  known 
throughout  the  Northwest  Territory,  by  all  the  red  men  of 
the  Plains. 

"  Many  other  things  of  great  interest  did  Jack,  'Num- 
ber Nine,'  tell  me. 

"While  he  was  explaining  things  to  me  as  we  walked 
along,  we  saw  two  squaws  coming  toward  us.  Jack 
looked  up  and  said,  '  White  Blanket ! '  and  as  we  neared 
them,  I  saw  one  was  a  very  large  squaw  with  black  hair, 
and  skin  nearly  as  dark.  She  was  fully  fifty  years  old. 
By  her  side,  sure  enough,  walked  the  white  maiden.  The 
girl  was  about  seventeen  years  of  age,  of  medium  height, 
slender,  fair  complexioned,  with  a  few  freckles  on  her 
cheeks.  Her  hair  was  what  might  be  called  dark  auburn ; 
it  was  in  two  braids,  and  hung  far  below  her  waist.  She 
wore  a  calico  dress,  rather  reddish  in  color;  it  was  short 
for  her  age,  and  might  have  been  taken  for  a  bicycle 
dress,  as  worn  in  the  cities.  She  wore  red  stockings  and 
moccasins  handsomely  worked  with  beads,  with  a  cross 
made  of  glass  attached  thereto.  Around  her  was  a 
checked  shawl  that  hung  loosely  about  her  shoulders. 

"As  we  approached,  Jack  said,  'White  Blanket,  big 
white  man,  Buffalo  Jones.'  I  shook  hands  with  her,  and 
then  with  the  big  squaw.  Neither  of  them  grasped  my 
hand  as  I  had  wished.  They  were  very  shy,  and  did  not 
want  to  stop.  I  asked  White  Blanket,  'Can  you  speak 
English  ?'  She  answered  softly,  '  Me  English  little  speak/ 


284 


FORTY  YEARS  OF  ADVENTURES 


but  kept  her  face  from  me ;  she  pulled  her  shawl  over  her 
head,  and  I  noticed  they  endeavored  to  get  away  from  us. 
Being  determined  to  get  a  photograph  of  the  stranger,  I 
had  carefully  loaded  my  kodak  with  films,  and  had  it 
under  my  left  arm,  ready  for  a  snap-shot  if  possible. 
Jack  had  told  me  it  would  be  difficult,  as  Indians  were 
afraid  to  have  their  pictures  taken.  Seeing  I  was  getting 
the  cold  shoulder,  I  thought  maybe  they  knew  of  Jack's 
hard  character,  and  wanted  to  elude  him.  I  whispered  to 
him,  telling  him  to  stay  where  he  was  and  I  would  talk 
to  the  girl.  He  smiled,  but  it  did  not  discourage  me.  I 
walked  after  the  women,  and  soon  overtook  them.  Hav- 
ing foreseen  the  difficulty  of  '  standing  in  '  with  Indian 
girls  on  short  acquaintance,  I  had  invested  a  half-dollar 
in  candy  and  nuts,  of  which  I  knew  Indians  were  always 
particularly  fond.  Walking  up  close  by  the  side  of  the 
fair  girl,  I  asked  in  as  persuasive  tones  as  I  knew  how, 
'  White  Blanket  like  candy  ? '  She  pulled  her  shawl 
closely  over  her  face  and  turned  it  from  me.  I  then 
stepped  in  front  of  her;  she  and  the  squaw  stopped,  but 
turned  their  heads  away.  I  repeated  the  words,  and  she 
answered,  'Got  some?'  My  answer  was,  'Yes,  heaps 
candy  and  nuts;  look  here.'  She  did  not  look,  but 
reached  her  hand  back  for  the  candy;  but  I  insisted, 
'  Look  here,  I  want  to  see  your  face.'  Then  she  burst  out 
at  me  :  '  No  good  white  man.  Me  know  what  you  want ; 
white  man  no  get  it.  Indian  die  soon  white  man  get  pic- 
ture.' The  old  squaw  spoke  to  the  girl,  and  they  started 
back  for  the  teepee.  I  was  not  to  be  shaken  so  easily,  but 
walked  right  along  with  the  young  miss,  giving  her  candy 
every  few  steps.  She  appeared  nervous,  and  walked  pretty 
fast, —  which  suited  me,  as  I  could  get  along  easily,  while 
the  old  squaw  soon  fell  behind,  and  I  could  talk  more 
freely.  By  this  time  she  would  peep  at  me  through  the 
shawl. 

"Finally  she  said,  'Where  you  live?'  I  pointed  to 
the  south,  and  told  her  'Far,  far  away.    No  white  blan- 


THE  WHITE  CAPTIVE 


285 


kets  where  I  live, —  no  snow,  no  ice,  no  cold;  sun  high 
over  the  head.'  Pointing  to  some  flowers  near  by,  I  told 
her  '  Flowers  there  all  the  year;  apples,  oranges  and  fruit 
plenty.'  She  had  been  peeping  through  her  shawl  till  I 
could  plainly  see  two  steel-gray  eyes,  but  nothing  more. 
Finally  she  asked  in  a  soft  tone,  '  Heaven  ?  '  I  had  been 
endeavoring  to  describe  the  place  where  I  had  been  the 
past  year, — the  Gulf  coast  and  Mexico.  But  when  she 
asked  if  it  was  'Heaven'  where  I  was  from,  it  was  too 
ridiculous  to  think  about.  It  quickly  brought  back  to 
my  mind  that  place  of  torment,  where  the  mosquitoes 
and  gnats  reign  supreme;  where  the  alligators  and  moc- 
casin snakes  make  life  hideous ;  where  the  centipedes  and 
tarantulas  never  cease  from  troubling  and  the  wicked  have 
no  rest.  I  £  haw-hawed  '  aloud,  and  the  poor  girl  no  doubt 
thought  I  was  shouting  because  she  realized  there  was  a 
place  of  rest  for  poor  Indians  in  the  Great  Hereafter. 
We  were  far  ahead  of  the  old  squaw,  and  I  insisted  on 
getting  the  girl's  picture,  but  she  told  me:  'Injun  mad, 
white  man  get  picture ;  Injun  'fraid  white  man  see  picture 
and  take  White  Blanket  far,  far.'  Finally,  when  we  ar- 
rived at  the  wigwam,  she  said,  '  Come  when  see  sun, —  one 
sleep.  Maybe  big  Injun  give  white  man  picture.'  All 
this  time  her  head  was  wrapped  in  her  shawl.  The  old 
squaw  soon  arrived,  and  I  said  good-night,  as  there  was 
no  hope  for  a  picture  before  the  morning  sun,  at  least. 

"I  was  disappointed,  but  still  had  hopes.  Presently  I 
came  to  where  Jack  was,  and  we  hurried  to  the  bridge,  as 
the  sun  had  already  gone  behind  the  northwestern  hills. 

"The  police  were  still  on  duty,  and  I  feared  my  lot 
was  to  lie  that  night  in  a  wigwam,  or  on  the  grass,  with- 
out even  a  blanket.  I  walked  up,  boldly  lifted  the  rope, 
and  started  down  the  bridge  as  if  nothing  was  wrong. 
One  of  the  police  shouted,  'Hold  on,  there!  '  I  looked 
around  and  pointed  to  the  other  end  of  the  bridge,  and 
said,  s  I  have  permission  from  the  other  side.'  The  other 
officer  spoke  up  and  said,  'All  right,  sir;  I  remember 


286 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


you.'  I  passed  over  as  before,  but  when  I  reached  the 
end  of  the  bridge,  found  the  river  had  risen  fully  eigh- 
teen inches,  and  I  was  obliged  to  pull  off  my  shoes  and 
wade  across  the  bottom  to  higher  ground.  The  next 
morning  I  was  out  before  sunrise,  and  started  for  the 
bridge.  There  was  no  one  near  it;  the  river  had  fallen 
about  two  feet,  and  I  passed  over  without  difficulty.  My 
friend  Jack  awaited  me  at  the  bridge,  and  we  soon  stood 
at  the  side  of  c  Winnipeg  Jack's  '  wigwam.  I  called  in  a 
mild  voice,  '  White  Blanket!  White  Blanket!'  but  no 
4  blanket '  responded.  I  repeated  in  louder  tones,  '  White 
Blanket,  come  ;  Buffalo  Jones,  candy  plenty  ' ;  but  all  the 
sound  that  could  be  heard  was  the  barking  of  a  little  dog 
that  stood  uncomfortably  near  my  heels.  I  was  as  deter- 
mined to  see  the  Indian  girl  as  was  brave  Hiawatha  to 
see  his  Minnehaha.  Long  and  loud  did  I  call  and  beat 
against  the  wigwam  with  a  long  stick.  Jack  lifted  the 
wigwam,  and  said,  'I  get  her!  '  I  took  a  snap-shot  at 
him  in  the  ridiculous  position  while  lifting  the  tent.  Fi- 
nally, when  the  side  of  the  teepee  wras  raised,  the  old 
squaw  crawled  out,  and  in  very  broken  English  said, 
'  White  Blanket  sleep.'  I  insisted  upon  having  her  wak- 
ened, but  the  stupid  old  squaw  merely  yawned  and  said, 
'White  Blanket  sleep.'  And  in  her  solemn  attitude  I 
took  another  snap-shot.  The  train  was  to  leave  for  Ed- 
monton, 200  miles  north,  at  8  o'clock,  and  I  realized  it 
was  time  to  be  on  my  return  to  the  city ;  so  I  went  my 
way  sorrowfully  to  the  hotel  for  breakfast.  It  was  evi- 
dent that  Jack  had  told  the  truth  when  he  said  it  would 
be  hard  to  get  her  picture,  and  that  white  men  had  even 
gone  to  their  reservation  and  offered  as  high  as  $25  for 
one,  but  had  never  succeeded  in  getting  it.  She  knew 
what  a  kodak  was,  as  I  could  never  induce  her  to  uncover 
her  face  after  seeing  that  treacherous  little  instrument. 

"The  washouts  on  the  railroad  had  been  repaired,  and 
our  train  pulled  out  on  time.  That  night  I  found  myself 
four  hundred  miles  north  of  the  northern  boundary  of 


WHITE  BLANKET'S  FOSTER-MOTHER. 


ARRANGING  FOR  THE  JOURNEY 


287 


the  United  States,  at  Edmonton,  Province  of  Alberta,  on 
the  north  fork  of  the  Saskatchewan  river.  This  point 
is  the  most  northern  limit  of  civilization.  There  are 
not  to  exceed  a  thousand  inhabitants  in  the  thriving 
little  village.  The  main  industry  is  the  fur  trade  from 
the  far-northern  countries.  The  next  day  or  two  was  de- 
voted to  arranging  to  go,  as  did  Abraham  of  old,  into  a 
country  I  knew  not  of.  I  had  often  heard  sermons  preached 
about  that  wonderful  journey,  the  loneliness  and  dangers 
that  surrounded  it,  and  how  terrible  an  undertaking  it 
would  be  to  attempt  to  penetrate  the  wilds  where  human 
feet  had  never  trodden.  Who  could  tell  what  the  next 
step  would  reveal  while  wandering  in  such  a  far-away 
country?  Yes,  I  had  lain  awake  nights  and  endeavored 
to  imagine  myself  in  such  a  deplorable  (?)  situation,  and 
to  draw  conclusions  as  to  what  to  do  when  in  every  con- 
ceivable perilous  position.  If  shipwrecked,  I  would  swim 
ashore.  Acting  upon  this  suggestion,  I  bought  a  life- 
preserver,  made  of  rubber,  to  buckle  around  my  body.  If 
violent  storms  came,  I  would  wrap  in  blankets  made  of 
buffalo's  wool.  I  provided  two  pairs.  If  rain  and  sleet, 
would  cover  with  rubber.  I  provided  myself  with  gos- 
samers and  rubber  blankets.  If  I  encountered  mountains 
and  ice,  would  wear  shoes  with  steel  calks.  And  thus  I 
kept  adding  to  my  storehouse.  My  mission  was  to  bring 
out  from  the  Arctic  regions  musk-oxen  alive,  if  possible ; 
also  silver-gray  fox,  marten,  and  other  valuable  fur- 
bearing  animals,  to  propagate  on  an  island  in  the  Pacific 
ocean.  I  provided  traps  of  every  description,  chains  suit- 
able for  animals  of  all  sizes,  ropes  and  swivels,  bridle- 
bits,  leather  for  headstalls,  bull-rings  for  the  noses  of  the 
musk-ox,  chain  hobbles  with  heavy  leather  straps,  and 
every  conceivable  article  that  I  thought  serviceable.  But 
the  most  valuable  thing  of  all  others,  as  I  figured,  was  not 
neglected, —  shepherd  dogs,  of  which  I  procured  seven.  To 
be  sure,  they  were  too  small  to  work  to  sledges,  but  I 


288 


FORTY  YEARS  OF  ADVENTURES 


could  procure  large  dogs  of  the  Indians  and  Eskimos  for 
that  purpose  in  the  far  North. 

"In  the  line  of  provisions,  I  laid  in  1,500  pounds  of 
flour,  400  pounds  of  bacon,  besides  beans,  rice,  oat-meal, 
coffee,  tea,  sugar,  and  such  minor  articles  as  one  needs  on 
trips  of  this  nature.  When  I  came  to  load  a  lumber- 
wagon,  I  found  it  would  carry  but  little  more  than  half 
my  outfit.  Another  team  was  secured,  and  I  climbed  upon 
one  of  the  wagons  with  a  dog-whistle  in  my  mouth,  as  it 
took  continual  calling  to  keep  the  little  dogs  together. 
The  fourth  day,  through  mud,  rain,  mosquitoes,  and  large 
horseflies  (  known  in  that  country  as  '  bulldogs  '  on  account 
of  their  propensity  for  blood),  we  reached  Athabaska 
landing,  on  the  Athabaska1  river,  one  hundred  miles  to 
the  north.  There,  on  the  south  bank  of  that  swift. moun- 
tain river,  I  built  my  boat.  I  gave  it  a  finishing  touch  on 
the  evening  of  the  13th  of  July.  It  was  25  feet  long,  9 
in  the  beam,  and  had  a  capacity  of  5,000  pounds.  That 
night  I  was  kept  busy  until  eleven  o'clock,  transferring 
my  supplies  into  it.  At  sunrise  the  following  morning 
I  weighed  anchor  and  started  off.  The  day  was  an  ideal 
one,  and  I  flattered  myself  I  should  find  easy  sailing,  but 
before  going  five  miles  discovered  that  my  craft  was  en- 
tirely too  large  to  be  successfully  managed  by  one  man, 
and  that  it  was  drifting  dangerously  near  the  shore ;  while 
immediately  ahead  was  a  treacherous  shoal.  The  Atha- 
baska river  is  noted  for  the  number  of  these  shoals  and 
rapids,  and  to  steer  clear  of  them  requires  constant  vigi- 
lance and  good  seamanship.  I  managed,  with  the  aid  of 
a  large  oar,  working  it  first  on  one  side  and  then  on  the 
other,  to  pass  safely  over. 

"About  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  a  terrific  rain- 
storm overtook  me,  and  I  was  thoroughly  drenched.  I 
protected  my  supplies  by  covering  them  with  a  tarpaulin, 
but  did  not  dare  to  crawl  under  it  myself,  as  the  wind 

1  Athabaska,  an  Indian  word  meaning  "without  a  spirit"  ;  or,  as  we  would  liberally 
translate  it,  "  God-forsaken." 


CAMPING  ON  THE  RIVER-BANK 


289 


was  constantly  drifting  the  boat  out  of  its  course.  As 
soon  as  one  of  these  peculiar  tempests  cleared  away,  an- 
other would  follow  in  quick  succession,  and  they  con- 
tinued until  sundown,  when  I  pulled  to  the  shore  for  the 
purpose  of  camping.  Just  as  I  was  going  to  land  I  cast 
my  eyes  toward  the  bank,  and  saw  a  group  of  forty 
squaws  and  children  intently  gazing  at  me.  I  immedi- 
ately turned  into  the  current  again,  upon  which  the  In- 
dians set  up  a  lamentation.  They  had  expected  I  would 
certainly  land,  and  it  would  be  a  grand  opportunity  for 
them  to  beg  supplies. 

"After  passing  a  bend  of  the  stream,  and  now  being 
out  of  sight  of  the  beggarly  savages,  I  turned  to  the  shore 
and  tied  up  for  the  night.  The  first  act  after  fastening 
my  boat  securely  was  to  loose  seven  shepherd  dogs  and 
one  bloodhound,  that  I  had  kept  chained  for  over  a  week 
to  prevent  the  Indians  from  stealing  them ;  consequently 
they  were  very  savage.  One  of  them  I  had  purchased 
from  a  half-breed  boy,  who  informed  me  that  the  animal 
was  a  mixture  of  collie  and  spaniel ;  that  he  was  '  a 
scrapper  from  'way  back.'  The  moment  I  turned  him 
loose  he  stationed  himself  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  and 
as  fast  as  the  other  dogs  landed  he  1  went  for '  them  in- 
dividually, and  gave  them  such  a  shaking  that  their 
howling  soon  informed  the  Indians  in  the  whole  region 
where  I  had  camped. 

" Another  storm  was  brewing,  and  I  hastily  set  fire  to  a 
pine  log,  made  a  cup  of  tea,  spread  my  robes  under  a 
clump  of  trees,  and  after  partaking  of  the  frugal  meal 
was  soon  wrapped  in  my  blanket,  listening  to  the  patter- 
ing of  the  rain  that  had  commenced  to  fall  on  my  rubber 
tarpaulin. 

"The  Indians,  very  shortly  after  I  had  retired,  found 
their  way  to  my  camp,  but  1  Scrapper,'  as  I  called  him, 
led  the  whole  pack  of  dogs  in  a  break  for  the  intruders, 
which  I  encouraged  by  'sicking'  them  on,  and  in  a  few 
—  19 


290 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


minutes  the  redskins  incontinently  dashed  away  through 
the  brush,  and  left  me  to  sleep  peacefully. 

"I  was  off  the  next  morning  by  four  o'clock.  The 
wind  blowing  from  the  right  point,  I  improvised  a  sail, 
and  made  excellent  time  through  the  mazes  of  my  tortu- 
ous course.  At  eight  o'clock  that  evening  I  arrived  at  the 
upper  end  of  Pelican  rapids,  where  I  was  to  meet  a  man 
who  was  to  accompany  me  to  the  'Barren  Lands,' — Aleck 
Kennedy,  a  half-breed.  I  found  three  men  stationed  at 
this  place,  who  were  boring  for  petroleum  under  the  au- 
spices of  the  Canadian  Government.  They  informed  me 
that  Kennedy  had  gone  away,  and  left  word  he  could  not 
make  the  promised  trip.  I  had  contracted  with  three 
men  in  the  United  States  to  go  with  me ;  another  at  Ed- 
monton, three  at  Athabaska  Landing,  and  this  Kennedy, 
who  had  been  vouched  for  as  absolutely  reliable  by  the 
Hudson  Bay  Company ;  but  all  of  them  had  backed  out ! 
What  should  I  do?  The  dangerous  rapids  were  just 
xthead.  I  had  been  warned  of  them  by  every  boatman  I 
met  on  my  journey.  I  knew  also  that  there  were  dozens 
of  similarly  treacherous  places  below,  but  had  started  for 
the  north,  and  go  I  would,  pilot  or  no  pilot. 

"At  half-past  four  the  next  morning  I  whistled  to  my 
dogs,  and  was  soon  pulling  through  the  splashing  water. 
The  roar  of  the  falls  ahead  resembled  the  sound  of  dis- 
tant thunder.  I  shot  down  the  turbulent  current,  apply- 
ing the  oars  vigorously,  so  as  to  give  the  boat  a  greater 
momentum  than  that  of  the  stream,  which  would  enable 
me  to  steer  among  the  rocks  without  dashing  upon  them. 
As  soon  as  safely  by  one  treacherous-looking  ledge,  I  again 
worked  at  the  oars,  and  when  near  the  immense  boulders, 
rushed  to  the  helm,  and  with  a  long  sweep  guided  my 
trembling  craft  through  the  rapids,  sometimes  receiving  a 
few  scratches  and  bumps.  I  encountered  other  rapids  at 
short  intervals  for  fifty  miles.  At  last  the  boat  drifted 
into  still  water,  which  reminded  me  of  the  old-fashioned 
mill-ponds  of  my  boyhood  days.    I  then  realized  that  the 


GRAND   RAPIDS  OF  THE  ATHABASKA. 


HUDSON  BAY  CO.'S  BOAT  "  SHOOTING"  A  CASCADE  IN  THE 
NINETY-MILE  RAPIDS. 


DANGEROUS  NAVIGATION 


291 


great  rapids  were  near.  I  had  been  warned  not  to  attempt 
to  go  over  them,  at  my  peril. 

"As  I  was  rapidly  approaching  them,  and  could  plainly 
hear  the  seething  of  the  foaming  current  as  it  gathered 
momentum  every  instant,  four  boats,  all  occupied  by  In- 
dians except  one  in  which  were  two  white  men,  came  fly- 
ing by,  each  manned  by  five  men — four  at  the  oars  and  one 
holding  the  sweep.  Three  passed  bet  v-on  me  and  the 
shore,  and  swung  in  to  land.  I  was  fol  owing  *n  good  or- 
der, when  a  gust  of  wind  careened  my  iooat  and  forced  it 
against  a  boulder  whose  sharp  point  barely  rose  to  the 
level  of  the  angry  water.  I  realized  the  danger,  but  was 
powerless  to  avoid  it.  The  boat  nearly  upset,  then  sud- 
denly whirled  about  and  sped  on,  stern  first.  This  threw 
me  still  farther  out  into  the  current,  and  as  I  was  endeav- 
oring to  right  the  boat,  the  last  one  of  the  other  party  put 
in  between  me  and  the  shore.  As  they  were  manipulating 
their  long  sweep,  it  struck  my  craft  and  shoved  me  still 
farther  away  than  ever.  It  appeared  as  if  the  fates  were 
against  me,  but  I  rushed  to  the  bow  and  threw  my  '  life- 
line '  to  the  crew  of  the  boat.  One  of  the  oarsmen  caught 
it,  but  the  steersman  yelled  out  for  him  to  drop  it,  which 
he  did,  and  the  next  instant  I  was  carried  rapidly  toward 
the  great  cascade.  I  was  cool,  and  said  to  myself,  £  Now  for 
one  more  trial!  '  and,  grabbing  the  oars,  pulled  for  the 
shore  as  I  never  before  pulled.  At  this  juncture,  one  of 
the  mounted  police  (who  are  at  that  far-away  place  to 
guard  against  casualties  and  prevent  ardent  spirits  from 
being  smuggled  to  the  Indians),  saw  my  danger,  and 
waded  far  out  into  the  water  and  shouted  for  me  to  throw 
him  my  line.  It  was  all  coiled  up,  and  gathering  it  as  if 
about  to  lasso  a  buffalo  calf,  I  let  it  fly  so  as  to  light  in  the 
water  above  the  soldier.  As  I  intended,  it  drifted  against 
his  legs  and  he  caught  it,  and  I  was  luckily  towed  to  the 
shore  just  in  time  to  escape  the  dreadful  cataract. 

"I  asked  the  steersman  who  had  ordered  his  oarsman 
to  let  go  my  line,  why  he  did  so.    He  exonerated  himself 


292 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


by  saying,  4  It  was  better  for  one  man  to  be  killed  than 
six.'  That  was  poor  consolation  for  me,  and  I  read  him 
the  cowboy  'riot  act,'  telling  him  I  hoped  to  catch  him 
in  as  tight  a  place  before  we  reached  the  Great  Slave  lake ; 
then  I  would  teach  him  a  lesson  in  Christianity.  I  asked, 
4  Do  you  know  what  I  will  do?  '  4  No,'  he  replied.  I  said, 
4  I  will  rescue  you  and  all  others,  or  die  in  the  attempt.' 
He  was  humiliated  at  the  reproval. 

4 'All  goods  shipped  up  or  down  the  river  must  be  trans- 
ported by  land  over  an  island  at  least  half  a  mile  long, 
having  a  channel  on  each  side.  (  See  cut  of  west  channel.) 
It  is  an  interesting  sight  to  watch  thirty  or  forty  Indians 
at  one  time  carrying  furs  and  merchandise  on  their  backs, 
making  this  portage.  They  are  so  trained  as  beasts  of 
burden  that  they  carry  on  an  average  from  two  to  three 
hundred  pounds  each.  They  do  not  seem  to  be  as  lazy 
as  our  southern  Indians ;  when  they  work,  they  go  at  it 
with  a  zeal  that  is  commendable. 

44  The  Hudson  Bay  Fur  Company  has  a  tramway  over 
the  island,  but  free  traders  are  not  allowed  to  use  it.  It 
requires  all  kinds  of  scheming  to  get  a  cargo  of  furs  up 
the  river.  In  ascending  with  a  loaded  boat,  when  the  foot 
of  the  falls  is  reached,  several  men  are  sent  around  to  the 
upper  end  with  a  heavy  rope  about  five  hundred  feet  long. 
A  canoe  is  procured  at  the  police  station,  and  by  going 
far  above  and  floating  down  the  center  of  the  river,  the 
upper  end  of  the  island  is  reached.  Then  they  go  over  to 
its  lower  extremity,  tie  a  log  to  one  end  of  their  rope, 
fasten  the  other  to  the  immense  rocks,  and  throw  the  log 
into  the  seething  waters.  The  crew  on  board  the  boat  be- 
low dart  out  through  the  eddy,  catch  the  line,  and  haul 
their  craft  up  through  the  great  frothing  swells,  that  look 
almost  insurmountable.  Many  boats  lie  at  the  foot  of 
the  falls,  completely  disabled  from-  blows  received  in 
thumping  against  the  great  boulders.  Many  a  man  has 
been  hurled  to  death  by  attempting  to  descend  the  falls, 
and  none  ever  survived  the  ordeal. 


EXTORTIONATE  INDIANS 


293 


"I  remained  here  three  days,  and  made  a  contract  with 
four  Indians  to  take  me  and  my  cargo  to  Fort  Smith  for 
twenty  dollars  (  forty  skins  ).1  On  the  18th  of  July  they 
loaded  their  own  freight,  while  I  was  engaged  in  loading 
mine,  consisting  mostly  of  flour,  bacon  and  other  provi- 
sions. A  third  of  my  goods  were  already  either  in  the 
boat  or  on  the  rock  to  be  put  in,  when  the  interpreter 
said  :  '  Let  us  understand  ourselves  :  we  are  to  have  eighty 
skins  (worth  $40)  to  take  you  to  Fort  Smith?'  '  No, 
indeed !  '  I  responded ;  4  our  contract  is  that  you  are 
to  have  forty  skins'  ($20).  He  said  nothing  in  reply, 
but  motioned  me  to  take  my  goods  back  to  the  island, 
which  I  did.  The  Indians  thought  there  was  no  other 
way  to  get  through,  and  determined  they  would  extort 
all  they  could  get  from  me,  but  I  was  as  determined  to 
stand  by  the  terms  of  our  agreement  or  have  nothing  to 
do  with  them.  This  outlook  was  discouraging,  as  I  very 
well  knew  it  was  impossible  for  any  human  being  to  run 
the  ninety  miles  of  rapids  by  himself  and  come  out  alive. 
What  was  I  to  do  ?  The  soldiers  would  not  permit  me  to 
go  alone;  they  said  it  would  be  an  act  of  suicide.  So  I 
went  back  to  the  island  and  set  up  my  tent.  Although 
discouraged,  I  was  determined  to  make  every  effort  pos- 
sible to  carry  out  my  plans.  The  Hudson  Bay  Company 
had  discharged  several  men,  who  were  all  bound  south- 
ward for  their  homes.  They  had  already  been  in  the 
northern  country  for  from  six  months  to  a  year,  and  were 
anxiously  counting  the  days  when  they  would  once  more 
be  with  their  families  on  the  reservations. 

"  I  made  another  attempt,  and  by  paying  twenty  dol- 
lars in  advance  induced  a  large,  fine-looking  Indian  to 
accompany  me  to  Fort  McMurray,  ninety  miles  away. 
He  had  been  very  anxious  to  become  a  pilot,  and  had  fre- 
quently tried  to  get  his  employers  to  send  him  out  as  one. 

1  A  "  skin  "  is  an  imaginary  valuation,  at  one  time  based  on  a  beaver-skin  as  the 
unit  of  value,  worth  about  fifty  cents  of  our  money  ;  but  a  beaver  is  now  worth  twelve 
"skins." 


294  FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 

He  reflected  that  here  was  an  opportunity  to  show  his 
skill,  which  might  be  of  value  to  him  in  the  future,  as 
the  pilot  who  can  run  all  the  rapids  without  knocking  a 
hole  or  two  in  a  flatboat  commands  a  high  salary. 

"All  the  men  employed  by  the  Hudson  Bay  Company 
told  Joseph  Deserley,  the  Indian  I  had  hired,  that  he  was 
a  fool  to  try  to  guide  a  boat  with  only  one  oarsman,  while 
all  other  boats  had  four ;  that  no  one  man  could  pull  a 
boat  fast  enough  in  the  rapids  to  give  it  the  momentum 
requisite  to  steer  it  accurately,  as  the  pilot  would  neces- 
sarily be  occupied  all  the  time  at  the  helm. 

"No  attention  was  paid  to  this  sermonizing.  We  man- 
aged to  get  the  boat  around  ready  for  loading,  and  by 
extraordinary  exertion  the  work  was  soon  accomplished, 
and  we  dropped  safely  down  one  of  the  most  difficult 
rapids,  I  plying  the  oars  with  all  the  skill  and  energy 
possible.  The  eyes  of  all  the  Company's  men,  and  those 
of  the  crews  going  down  the  river,  were  upon  us,  to  wit- 
ness what  they  supposed  an  impossibility.  As  luck,  or 
pluck,  would  have  it,  we  shot  through  without  touching  a 
single  rock,  and  as  we  rounded  the  curve,  saluted  the  gang 
of  officers  and  Indians  on  the  island  by  waving  our  hats, 
and  darted  out  of  sight.  We  shot  over  the  big  and  little 
cascades  at  a  certain  point  where  a  current  of  water  from 
both  the  right  and  left  appeared  to  meet,  forming  such  a 
roll  that  we  scarcely  noticed  the  fall,  the  boat  merely 
shipping  about  two  bucketfuls  during  the  'shoot.'  It  is 
the  only  place  where  a  boat  can  descend  with  safety ;  and 
even  there,  if  not  exactly  on  the  crest  of  the  swell,  a  boat 
will  swamp. 

"  The  Boiler  rapids  are  the  dread  of  all  navigators,  as 
no  boat  can  go  through  without  making  a  circuitous  wind- 
ing among  many  boulders ;  and  the  least  variation  from 
one  particular  route  invariably  proves  fatal.  The  way 
these  falls  received  their  name  was  from  the  fact  that  the 
Hudson  Bay  Company  were  taking  a  large  boiler  down 
the  river  on  a  large  scow,  the  boiler  to  be  used  in  a  steam- 


EDMONTON. 


BOILER  RAPIDS. 


RAPIDS  SUCCESSFULLY  PASSED 


295 


boat  they  were  building  at  Chippewayan.  The  pilot  be- 
came 'rattled,'  and  lost  his  course.  The  scow  struck  a 
boulder,  and  was  divided  in  halves ;  the  boiler  dropped  to 
the  bottom,  and  has  never  been  discovered.  Ever  since, 
this  portion  of  the  river  has  been  known  as  '  Boiler  rapids.' 
In  fact,  this  stretch  of  ninety  miles  is  a  continuation  of 
cascades  and  rapids,  making  the  journey  one  of  continual 
dread  and  exciting  adventure. 

"  When  we  arrived  at  Fort  McMurray  we  had  made  the 
ninety  miles  without  a  scratch,  while  three  of  the  other 
four  boats  in  venturing  the  dangerous  passage  had  from 
three  to  four  holes  apiece  knocked  in  them,  one  nearly 
sinking.  The  very  Indians  who  had  refused  me  passage 
smashed  their  boat,  and  were  badly  scared. 

' '  The  extraordinary  efforts  exercised  by  myself  in  this 
perilous  undertaking  were  so  great  that  I  was  nearly  ex- 
hausted; and  my  hands  were  covered  with  blisters. 

"  Here  I  paid  off  my  pilot  with  an  extra  fee  in  the  shape 
of  a  pocket-knife  and  other  trinkets  so  pleasing  to  the  sav- 
age, which  he  prized  more  than  the  original  sum  of  money 
which  I  had  given  him.  I  also  gave  him  such  a  first-class 
certificate  that  it  would  have  entitled  him  to  a  similar 
position  on  a  fast-line  American  steamer  crossing  the  At- 
lantic ocean.  I  shall  never  forget  the  expression  on  my 
rough  pilot's  face  when  we  got  into  any  difficulty  dashing 
among  the  rocks ;  the  poor  fellow  could  not  speak  one 
word  of  English,  nor  I  of  Cree.  When  in  the  most  dan- 
gerous places  he  would  yell  most  hideously,  1  Scow  !  scow ! 
pemi-scow  !  '  which  I  soon  learned  meant,  '  Row  !  row  I 
row  hard  ! ' 

u  Sunday,  July  25th,  was  an  uneventful  day.  I  was 
again  captain,  mate,  pilot,  and  deck-hand,  navigating 
down  the  Athabaska  quite  peacefully,  excepting  now  and 
then  when  compelled  to  row  briskly  to  keep  from  being 
thrown  against  a  boulder,  or  drifting  upon  a  bar  of  quick- 
sand. On  Monday  morning  I  passed  the  mouth  of  Red 
river,  which  I  afterward  learned  was  the  home  of  Siena, 


296 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


the  liberator  of  the  Slave  tribe  of  Indians.  At  noon  the 
sun  shone  very  bright  and  hot;  yes,  hot!  and  in  the  frigid 
zone.  The  thermometer  undoubtedly  would  have  regis- 
tered one  hundred  degrees,  if  I  had  had  one  to  hang  in  the 
shady  part  of  my  craft.  Three  of  the  boats  were  far  in 
advance,  as  they  had  floated  all  night.  The  wind  was 
blowing  stiff  and  strong  from  the  southwest ;  it  struck  me 
fair,  and  was  fast  propelling  me  on  to  a  sandbar.  I  pulled 
for  my  life  !  It  was  impossible  at  first  to  perceive  any  re- 
sponse to  my  desperate  efforts.  Finally,  however,  the 
boat  yielded  to  my  exertions,  and  in  another  hour  was 
floating  down  the  river  northward  again.  At  this  junc- 
ture I  lost  all  consciousness,  and  when  reason  returned  I 
found  my  boat  lodged  near  the  north  end  of  a  long  island. 
I  had  over-exerted  myself,  and  the  result  was  a  slight 
sunstroke.  Realizing  in  some  way  what  had  happened,  I 
managed  to  get  hold  of  a  towel,  and  with  it  applied  water 
to  my  head.  I  recovered  sufficiently  to  enable  me  to 
think,  although  my  brain  was  in  a  measure  paralyzed.  I 
found  my  valise,  and  tried  to  get  at  my  medicines,  among 
which  was  camphor.  My  mind  was  not  lucid  enough  to 
distinguish  it  from  anything  else,  so  I  must  have  substi- 
tuted Jamaica  ginger  for  what  I  really  wanted,  for  when 
fully  recovered  I  found  my  camphor-bottle  tied  up  just 
as  it  came  from  the  drug-store :  the  ginger  had  evidently 
been  opened  and  a  tablespoonful  used. 

"  I  soon  became  aware  of  the  fact  that  if  the  other  boat 
passed  me  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  island  I  would  be  in 
a  dilemma,  so  I  pushed  off  and  managed  to  land  again  at 
the  end  of  the  island,  where  I  tied  up  and  awaited  results. 
Had  the  other  boat  passed,  or  not?  was  a  problem  that 
worried  me  very  much.  I  laid  down  under  some  bushes, 
and  patiently  watched  for  an  hour  at  least.  Finally, 
around  the  bend  on  the  opposite  side  from  where  I  had 
lodged  first,  I  saw  the  boat  coming;  I  cut  loose  and 
drifted  into  the  stream,  and  as  the  craft  came  near  I 
asked  permission  to  tie  to  it,  which  privilege  was  most 


WEATHER  IN  THE  FAR  NORTH 


297 


graciously  granted.  Soon  I  was  almost  insensible,  but 
toward  night  regained  strength  and  reasoning  faculties. 
We  camped  for  the  night. 

"  On  Tuesday  I  was  able  to  paddle  my  own  boat.  The 
wind  shifted  more  to  the  westward,  and  blew  a  gale.  My 
course  was  almost  northeastwardly  until  reaching  Lake 
Athabaska.  I  converted  one  of  my  tarpaulins  into  a  sail, 
which  sent  me  flying  at  the  rate  of  ten  miles  an  hour.  At 
eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning  I  found  myself  high  on  a 
sandbar.  The  only  way  to  avoid  it  was  to  jump  into  the 
water  and  '  boost '  the  boat  off,  which  was  not  a  very 
pleasant  job,  as  the  day  was  cold.  At  one  o'clock  the 
lake  appeared,  and  almost  before  I  knew  it  I  was  forging 
through  its  great  waves,  which  rolled  like  those  of  the 
Atlantic  ocean.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  warning  of  the 
crew  just  ahead,  in  another  moment  I  would  have  rushed 
beyond  the  limit  of  safety;  but  by  pulling  desperately 
swung  my  boat  into  an  inlet  to  the  left,  when,  by  wading 
in  mud  and  water  to  my  shoulders,  I  at  last  anchored  to 
the  shore  of  a  small  island,  on  which  I  built  a  fire  among 
the  driftwood.  I  now  changed  clothing,  and  felt  more 
comfortable.  It  seemed  the  coldest  day  I  had  ever  ex- 
perienced, as  a  cold,  sleety  rain  was  falling. 

"  Let  me  interpolate  right  here,  that  I  left  my  home  in 
Perry,  Oklahoma,  in  a  rain-storm,  and  since  then  not  a 
day  had  passed,  up  to  this  time,  without  a  downpour. 

"  It  is  impossible  to  row  on  Lake  Athabaska,  excepting 
in  a  calm.  I  floated  along  the  shore  through  the  reeds 
and  rushes,  made  one  more  camp  directly  opposite  the 
post  of  Chippewayan,  and  the  next  day  again  entered  the 
lake;  but  on  account  of  the  prevailing  high  winds  was 
unable  to  use  my  oars,  and  my  bark  was  so  tossed  on  its 
waves  that  I  was  obliged  to  again  tie  up. 

"  The  region  is  a  perfect  paradise  for  waterfowl ;  ducks 
were  constantly  in  sight,  accompanied  by  their  young, 
feeding  on  the  abundance  of  snails  and  bulbs  found  in 
profusion.    Many  Indians  live  in  the  Athabaska  lake  re- 


298 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


gion ;  they  depend  for  subsistence  chiefly  on  fishing  and 
hunting. 

"  In  the  evening  I  rowed  up  a  bayou  to  the  forks  of  the 
river,  and  down  another  stream,  in  order  to  get  as  near 
the  fort  as  possible.  At  eleven  o'clock  that  night  I  went 
into  camp  seven  miles  south  of  Fort  Chippewayan,  the 
wind  blowing  furiously.  At  three  in  the  morning  I 
awoke,  discovered  that  the  wind  had  ceased,  and  was 
soon  off  for  the  fort.  I  had  not  proceeded  more  than  a 
mile  before  a  breeze  began  to  rise,  and  by  the  time  I  had 
gone  three  miles  it  struck  squarely  against  the  bow  of  my 
boat.  It  was  too  late  to  retreat;  the  only  thing  to  do 
was  to  continue  across.  I  threw  myself  with  all  force  on 
the  oars,  and  pulled  till  ten  o'clock,  when  I  arrived  at  an 
island  about  one  mile  distant  from  the  fort.  I  was  so  ex- 
hausted from  my  efforts  that  I  could  go  no  farther,  but 
after  a  cup  of  coffee  and  plenty  of  whitefish,  pulled  over 
to  the  fort,  where  all  the  Indian  boys  and  girls  of  the 
village  had  congregated  to  see  '  Buffalo  Jones,'  the  man 
who  had  rowed  a  flatboat  across  the  lake  alone. 

"At  the  village  of  Chippewayan  the  Catholic  Church 
has  established  a  mission,  as  has  also  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land. Both  have  schools  for  the  children,  and  fine  gar- 
dens in  which  are  grown  every  variety  of  vegetables 
common  to  that  far-away  northern  country.  Potatoes 
do  exceedingly  well,  and  wheat  sometimes  ripens  as  far 
north  as  this ;  the  best  bushel  exhibited  at  Philadelphia 
in  1876  was  grown  at  this  place. 

"Athabaska  lake  is  seven  miles  wide  at  the  mouth  of 
Athabaska  river,  which  flows  into  the  lake  on  its  south 
side.  The  lake  is  240  miles  long  and  about  sixty  miles 
wide.  There  are  no  dwellings  on  its  south  shore,  as  it  is 
one  vast  marsh,  once  evidently  part  of  the  lake,  but  is 
gradually  filled  in  by  the  immense  amount  of  sediment 
washed  down  from  the  mountains  and  the  great  fertile 
plains  through  which  the  stream  flows.  Some  day  the 
lake  will  be  no  more.    It  is  said  that  the  wind  never 


ONE  OF  THE  INDIANS  REPENTS 


299 


ceases  blowing  on  this  vast  sheet  of  water,  and  the  stories 
of  many  disasters  are  current  among  the  inhabitants. 
They  say,  also,  that  many  boats  have  been  driven  out  to 
sea  by  the  heavy  west  and  northwest  winds,  never  to  re- 
turn. 

"  Here  I  overtook  the  four  Indians  who  broke  their  con- 
tract to  carry  me  to  Fort  Smith.  They  had  preceded  me 
about  two  hours.  One  of  them,  John  Tindell,  thoroughly 
repented  of  the  mistreatment  I  had  received,  and  told  me 
that  if  I  would  allow  him  to  take  his  goods  into  my  boat 
the  other  fellows  might  go  on  alone  (as  he  was  only  their 
interpreter) ,  and  he  would  help  me  through  to  Fort  Smith. 
I  did  not  hesitate  very  long,  and  we  soon  loaded  six  hun- 
dred pounds  of  flour  and  other  supplies  that  he  had  jour- 
neyed eight  hundred  miles  to  procure  for  winter  use,  and 
started  for  the  river  that  rises  four  miles  west  of  the  vil- 
lage. The  wind  was  blowing  furiously  against  us,  and  we 
drifted  to  the  southwest.  I  took  out  my  map  and  asked 
Tindell  why  we  should  not  take  the  channel  that  puts  out 
at  the  southwest  corner  of  the  lake  and  runs  both  ways, 
to  Peace  river  and  from  Peace  river  to  the  lake,  according 
to  the  height  of  the  stream.1  'All  right,'  he  replied,  and 
we  shot  through  the  great  rolling  waves  of  the  lake,  missed 
the  channel  that  leads  to  the  river,  and  were  blown  high 
on  to  a  sandbar.  We  managed  to  retreat  and  get  into  the 
channel,  but  found  the  water  flowing  to  the  lake  very 
slowly.  As  the  wind  was  partly  in  our  favor,  we  put  up 
our  sail  and  went  up  to  where  the  stream  crosses  an- 
other,—  a  curious  phenomenon,  two  rivers  crossing  each 
other;  perhaps  it  is  the  only  place  in  the  world  where 

1  This  may  appear  somewhat  contradictory.  The  explanation  is  this  :  The  direction 
of  the  water  varies  according  to  the  volume  of  water  in  Peace  river,  and  the  direction 
of  the  wind  on  the  lake  ;  i.e.,  when  the  Peace  river  is  swollen  from  freshets,  its  water 
is  forced  through  a  small  river  about  forty  miles  long  into  the  lake  ;  but  should  there 
be  a  strong  east  wind,  the  water  of  the  lake  would  be  forced  up  in  the  west  end  and  the 
water  would  run  into  the  Peace  river.  Again,  when  the  river  is  low  the  water  of  the 
lake  always  flows  into  the  river,  except  when  there  is  a  strong  west  wind  that  forces 
the  water  of  the  lake  to  the  east  end  ;  then  the  water  of  the  river  empties  into  the  lake. 
So  about  half  of  the  time  the  water  in  the  short  river  runs  in  one  direction,  and  half 
in  the  other. 


300 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


such  a  thing  occurs.  When  we  reached  the  other  stream 
we  found  it  was  flowing  slowly  toward  Peace  river ;  so  we 
went  westward  again  thirty  miles,  and  at  sunset  on  the 
1st  of  August  entered  the  waters  of  the  Peace. 

"I  was  very  much  surprised  at  its  width — so  much 
greater  than  I  expected;  it  was  fully  a  mile  across,  and, 
as  far  as  I  could  see  to  the  west,  of  the  same  breadth. 
We  swung  to  the  north  and  floated  toward  the  Slave  river, 
which  is  thirty  miles  below,  and  where  the  Peace  intersects 
the  main  river  out  of  Lake  Athabaska.  The  wind  had 
been  against  us  all  day,  and  I  was  very  much  fatigued.  I 
told  Tindell  to  keep  watch  and  I  would  sleep,  part  of  the 
night ;  so  I  threw  myself  on  some  sacks  of  flour  and  was 
soon  dreaming  I  was  at  my  old  occupation  of  holding 
down  the  Legislature  of  Oklahoma,  as  sergeant-at-arms. 
When  I  awoke,  the  boat  was  in  an  eddy  just  above  a  sharp 
fall  over  boulders,  and  Tindell  was  rolled  in  his  blanket 
fast  asleep.  I  quickly  grabbed  the  oars  and  shouted  to 
him  to  guide  the  boat,  and  we  were  soon  safely  past  this 
dangerous  place. 

' '  The  2d  of  August  was  the  first  whole  day  without  rain 
since  I  had  left  Oklahoma,  nearly  two  months  previously. 
The  wind  was  in  our  favor  most  of  the  time,  and  by  hoist- 
ing sail  we  made  rapid  progress. 

"We  soon  reached  the  great  falls  of  the  Slave  river, 
where  we  hauled  the  boat  and  cargo  on  the  shore  to  avoid 
sixteen  miles  of  dangerous  rapids,  which  cannot  be  suc- 
cessfully passed.  The  Hudson  Bay  Company  has  oxen  at 
this  place  to  portage  its  goods  around  these,  the  last  falls 
to  be  encountered.  I  had  only  about  fifteen  hundred 
miles  farther  to  go,  and  I  felt  encouraged  in  the  reflec- 
tion that  my  journey  would  soon  be  at  an  end. 

6 1  It  was  August  3  that  I  landed  here  (Smith's  Land- 
ing ),  a  Hudson  Bay  post,  half-way  between  Forts  Chippe- 
wayan  and  Resolution,  where  I  was  invited  to  a  council  of 
'  great  chiefs.'  An  interpreter  told  me  with  great  solemnity 
that  these  men  had  come  a  long  way  to  meet  me.  They 


COUNCIL  OF  THE   "  GREAT  CHIEFS " 


301 


had  heard  of  my  advent  into  the  country,  and  warned 
me  not  to  take  any  animals  out  alive ;  they  were  nearly 
starved  to  death  already,  and  if  I  took  musk-oxen  away 
all  other  animals  would  follow  and  the  people  surely  per- 
ish. I  listened  attentively  until  they  had  finished ;  then 
I  told  them  that  I  had  come  three  thousand  miles,  not  to 
destroy,  but  to  preserve  the  very  animals  they  had  been 
killing  for  their  subsistence.  That  they  must  learn  to 
foster  and  propagate  them  or  they  certainly  would  perish 
of  hunger.  That  they  must  do  away  with  their  foolish 
superstitions;  make  fences,  cut  hay,  capture  the  moose, 
reindeer,  musk-ox,  buffalo,  and  other  animals  ;  keep  them 
where  they  could  always  have  them  for  meat  when  the 
winter  winds  whistled  around  and  snow  covered  the  earth. 
All  of  this  was  repeated  to  them  by  their  interpreter,  to 
whom  they  attentively  listened,  and  agreed  to  take  it  un- 
der advisement. 

"I  intended  to  keep  right  on  to  the  habitat  of  the 
musk-ox.  I  did  not  expect  to  violate  any  statutes  of  the 
Northwest  Territory,  and  as  long  as  I  had  the  law  on  my 
side,  felt  that  I  should  succeed.  Of  course  I  expected  to 
encounter  many  difficulties  in  bringing  the  animals  out 
alive,  but  had  no  idea  of  abandoning  the  project.  The 
Indians  I  met  belonged  to  three  tribes :  the  Chippe- 
wayans,  Crees,  and  Slaves.  I  expected  to  have  some  red- 
hot  times  even  in  that  cold  country,  and  hoped  to  return 
to  the  United  States  by  the  first  of  December  of  that  year, 
unless  prevented  by  the  red  devils  that  were  already  show- 
ing such  a  defiant  spirit." 


CHAPTER  XIX 


BOUND  NORTHWARD 

indians  order  him  to  return  — reaches  great  slave 

lake  —  tossed  at  midnight  by  an  angry  tempest  

finds  ruins  of  searching  party,  fort  reliance — in- 
dians congregate  from  every  quarter — treachery 
of  "big  Indian"  siena 

(REMAINED  a  week  at  Port  Smith,  waiting  upon  the 
humor  of  the  Indians  to  assist  me  in  going  around 
the  rapids,  which  are  sixteen  miles  long.  The  Indians 
alone  are  depended  upon  to  make  the  terribly  excit- 
ing and  dangerous  passage  of  the  river.  It  is  as  much  as 
a  white  man  can  endure  to  traverse  swamps  and  climb 
the  apparently  interminable  hills  and  battle  with  the 
swarms  of  persistently  voracious  mosquitos,  saying  noth- 
ing of  attempting  to  "  shoot"  the  rapids. 

The  ways  of  the  red  men  of  the  North  are  as  dark  and 
mysterious  as  are  those  of  their  brethren  farther  south. 
The  Indians  I  had  employed  to  assist  in  making  the  port- 
age with  my  boat  and  goods  were  six  days  on  their  way 
across  the  portage,  and  on  the  first  day  only  did  they  even 
show  a  disposition  to  accomplish  what  they  had  promised. 
Then  I  was  coolly  informed  that  they  would  not  carry  any 
more  goods  across,  because  they  had  learned  my  mission 
was  to  take  live  animals  out  of  their  country.  In  fact, 
they  impudently  told  me  to  pack  up  my  traps  and  row 
south  again.  I  firmly  informed  them  that  I  would  take 
my  goods  and  myself  where  I  pleased,  and  would  go  north 

(302) 


THE  11  BIG  INDIANS"  THAT  WARNED  ME  NOT  TO 
CAPTURE  WILD  ANIMALS. 


HUDSON  BAY  CO.'S  BOAT  GRAHAM,  ON  THE  MACKENZIE  RIVER 
AND  GREAT  SLAVE  LAKE. 


CONCERNING  FROSTS 


303 


in  spite  of  their  protests.  At  last  they  appeared  to  un- 
derstand that  I  was  not  to  be  intimidated  by  any  of  their 
threats,  and  they  let  me  alone. 

On  the  10th  of  August  I  associated  with  me  Mr.  William 
Armstrong  and  J.  R.  Rea,  two  of  the  most  determined 
and  successful  pioneers  in  the  whole  northern  region.  I 
also  sent  for  Mr.  David  Van  Nest,  of  Oklahoma,  who  had 
promised  to  join  me  if  his  services  were  required.  I  had 
made  up  my  mind  that  if  four  white  men  were  not  able 
to  control  matters  connected  with  our  little  expedition, 
I  did  not  intend  to  call  in  requisition  the  aid  of  any  of 
the  Indians  to  help  us  out. 

It  was  my  purpose  to  remain  there  for  a  few  days,  then 
proceed  to  Fort  Resolution,  on  the  Great  Slave  lake, 
thence  three  hundred  miles  northeast,  where  our  camp  was 
to  be  established.  I  expected  to  reach  the  latter  point  by 
the  10th  of  September,  and  on  the  first  of  the  following 
month  hoped  to  start  homeward.  Should1  the  musk-oxen 
be  found  too  far  away  for  us  to  return  by  the  20th  of  Oc- 
tober, the  lake  would  doubtless  be  frozen  over  and  pre- 
clude our  passage  on  the  return  trip  by  open  water.  I 
intended  to  send  news  to  Fort  Resolution  by  a  shepherd 
dog,  to  be  forwarded  to  Edmonton  by  a  dog  train,  which 
leaves  there  in  midwinter  for  the  latter  place,  more  than 
a  thousand  miles  distant.  I  had  not  heard  a  word  from 
the  United  States  since  the  24th  of  June,  and  did  not  ex- 
pect to  until  my  return  from  the  "  Barren  Lands  "  to  Fort 
Resolution. 

Probably  the  people  of  the  United  States  entertain  the 
same  idea  which  I  did  concerning  this  remote  region,  viz., 
that  the  farther  north  one  travels,  the  colder  the  tem- 
perature becomes,  both  in  summer  and  winter.  This  is 
not  the  case.  Frost  does  not  make  its  appearance  at  Fort 
Smith  after  the  first  of  June,  or  until  about  the  middle 
of  September;  while  at  Winnipeg,  on  the  North  Pacific 
Railroad,  I  have  seen  heavy  frosts  as  late  as  June  26th 
and  as  early  as  September  10th.    Many  will  doubtless  be 


304  FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 

surprised  at  this,  but  the  cause  is  very  simple :  here,  there 
is  no  night  worthy  of  the  name,  from  May  15th  to  Sep- 
tember 15th.  The  sun  does  not  disappear  excepting  for  a 
very  few  hours  each  day,  so  that  during  its  absence  the 
atmosphere  has  hardly  time  to  cool  off  by  radiation  be- 
fore "  Old  Sol  "  reappears  above  the  horizon  to  reheat  the 
earth  and  repel  the  frost  that  would  certainly  come  were 
it  not  for  this  provision.  A  thousand  or  more  miles  south 
of  here  the  case  is  different:  there,  the  long  nights  permit 
an  almost  complete  radiation  of  the  heat  many  hours  be- 
fore the  sun  makes  its  appearance  again,  and  frost  is  the 
consequence.  Besides,  the  relatively  short  days  do  not 
permit  the  earth  to  become  thoroughly  heated  before 
night  is  on'  again. 

I  found  some  of  the  finest  gardens  in  those  high  lati- 
tudes that  I  have  ever  seen ;  vegetable  life  appeared  to  be 
present  everywhere  in  midsummer.  Potatoes,  beets,  tur- 
nips, peas,  and  cabbages,  and  many  other  kinds  of  edi- 
ble roots  and  succulent  plants,  reach  perfection.  Many 
varieties  of  berries  common  to  the  United  States,  to- 
gether with  red  and  black  currants  and  the  dry-land 
cranberry,  reach  a  stage  of  lusciousness  unexcelled  else- 
where. I  found  a  red-currant  bush  on  an  island  in  the 
Great  Slave  lake  loaded  with  fruit,  every  berry  of  which 
was  as  large  as  a  cherry.  I  procured  a  dozen  cuttings, 
and  hoped  to  propagate  some  of  the  "  Barren  Lands'" 
productions  at  home.  The  reason  for  this  seemingly 
paradoxical  condition  of  vegetation  is  easily  accounted 
for.  There  the  sun  shines  almost  continuously  for  many 
days,  and  although  the  seasons  are  very  short,  the  pro- 
longed light  and  frequency  of  showers  induce  as  perfect 
results  as  it  is  possible  for  nature  to  effect.  During  the 
winter  months  the  weather  reaches  the  extreme  of  cold, 
which  is  intense,  with  but  little  variation  of  temperature. 

The  absence  of  bugs  and  most  other  insects,  which  fur- 
ther south,  in  their  season  attack  everything  in  the  way  of 
vegetation,  is  one  of  the  notable  features  of  that  region. 


INHABITANTS  OF  THE  SLAVE  RIVER  COUNTRY  305 

Reptiles  are  unheard  of ;  but  the  gnat  and  mosquito  are 
monarchs,  though  their  reign  is  of  short  duration. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  Slave  river  country  are  all  In- 
dians, with  the  exception  of  a  few  traders  who  venture 
out  there  to  collect  furs  from  the  natives.  Their  princi- 
pal food  is  game  and  fish ;  very  few  ever  accumulate  an 
amount  of  furs  sufficient  to  permit  them  to  indulge  in 
the  luxury  of  a  sack  of  flour,  worth  from  fifteen  to 
twenty-five  cents  a  pound.  The  men  are  the  most  con- 
summate and  artful  beggars  in  existence ;  and  when  they 
fail  to  accomplish  their  ends  they  send  their  squaws  to 
try  their  luck.  If  they  are  unsuccessful,  the  little  chil- 
dren are  forced  into  the  service.  Often  small  girls  only 
ten  to  fourteen  years  old  would  come  into  our  camp,  and 
remain  for  hours,  even  far  into  the  night,  unless  they  re- 
ceived a  morsel  to  eat,  or  were  driven  away.  They  did 
not  speak  a  word,  but  watched  every  movement,  and  if 
very,  very  hungry  would  crowd  nearer  the  fire  where  the 
cooking  was  in  process,  and  if  given  a  scrap  to  eat  would 
leave  only  to  return  the  next  morning,  continuing  their 
visits  as  long  as  we  remained  in  that  locality.  I  am  told 
that  the  problem  of  food  is  getting  more  desperate  each 
returning  season.  The  Government  makes  no  provision 
for  their  support,  as  no  treaty  has  ever  been  made. 
Surely,  the  future  of  the  northern  red  man  is  deplorable 
to  contemplate. 

At  sunset  on  the  13th  of  August  I  took  leave  of  Fort 
Smith,  which  is  situated  at  the  north  end  of  the  great 
falls,  about  sixteen  miles  north  of  Smith's  Landing.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  in  referring  to  places  I  visited  as 
'forts,'  they  are  not  in  any  sense  apposite  to  the  term ;  no 
troops  have  ever  been  sent  into  that  desolate  region, 
hence,  the  so-called  forts  have  never  been  garrisoned. 
They  are  merely  trading-posts  of  the  fur  companies.  My 
embarkation  was  a  gloomy  one;  the  clouds  hung  black 
and  dismal  over  the  limited  area  of  vision,  for  high  em- 
bankments lay  in  every  direction.  Scarcely  had  I  pulled 
20  — 


306 


FORTY  YEARS  OF  ADVENTURES 


to  the  center  of  the  great  river  when  the  rain  commenced 
to  fall  in  torrents,  and  a  terrible  darkness  overshadowed 
everything,  and  I  was  compelled  to  row  to  the  shore,  wet 
through  and  chilled  to  the  bone. 

Oh,  how  dreary  and  desolate  the  traveler's  camp  in  a 
cold  storm,  isolated  from  all  sounds  excepting  that  of 
his  own  voice  and  the  continuous  dropping  of  the  rain ! 
By  spreading  a  tent  to  protect  my  goods  and  crawling  un- 
der a  part  of  it,  I  managed  to  sleep  until  daybreak.  What 
a  blessing  it  is  that  one  can  sleep  under  such  circum- 
stances, forgetting  all  his  troubles;  perchance  to  dream 
of  happy  days,  vanished  forever !  On  awakening,  his  cares 
are  multiplied,  the  dream  having  increased  them  by  the 
disappointment  of  its  reality. 

On  the  17th  of  August  I  caught  a  first  glimpse  of  the 
Great  Slave  lake.  There  I  met  an  old  half-breed,  from 
whom  I  learned  that  many  years  ago  the  Cree  Indians  of 
the  south  had  come  to  this  far-away  country,  captured 
the  natives,  and  carried  them  back  to  their  own  villages, 
where  they  were  doomed  to  a  hopeless  bondage  of  slavery. 
The  raids  of  the  southern  tribes  were  of  such  frequent 
occurrence  and  so  successful  in  results,  that  the  name 
"  Slaves  "  became  the  appellation  of  the  northern  tribes, 
and  from  them  the  lake  and  the  river  were  given  their 
names  by  the  first  white  men  who  entered  the  region. 

I  was  compelled  to  leave  my  boat  at  Smith's  Landing, 
as  I  could  not  induce  any  of  the  Indians  to  assist  me  in 
making  the  portage.  I  borrowed  a  boat  below  the  rapids, 
of  a  trader  at  Fort  Resolution,  and  came  through  with  it. 
I  might  have  been  obliged  to  remain  there  all  winter,  had 
I  not  met  some  kind  white  man  who  showed  me  the  mercy 
which  the  Indians  denied,  as  they  had  a  grievance  against 
me.  I  found  on  arriving  at  Fort  Resolution  that  the  In- 
dians had  sent  a  letter  on  ahead  of  me  by  their  runners, 
commanding  their  people  not  to  assist  me  in  any  way. 

I  was  compelled  to  build  a  boat  suitable  for  traversing 
the  dangerous  and  turbulent  waters  of  the  lake,  and  had 


OPPOSED  BY  THE  INDIANS 


307 


only  the  assistance  of  my  friend  Mr.  Rea,  and  of  a  half- 
breed  Indian  who  bade  defiance  to  the  traditions  of  his 
tribe  and  the  dictation  of  the  headmen.  There  was  no 
large  timber  in  the  vicinity,  and  the  only  resource  was 
the  driftwood.  We  were  obliged  to  follow  the  shore  for 
many  miles  before  any  logs  were  found  suitable  for  our 
purpose.  Then  we  had  to  raft  them  to  our  camp  and  saw 
them  up  by  hand,  to  get  lumber  to  construct  the  boat. 
All  this  took  valuable  time,  and  before  the  boat  was  ready 
for  launching  the  weather  was  growing  colder  and  more 
disagreeable. 

There  are  no  people  north  of  Edmonton  that  one  can 
employ,  excepting  the  Indians.  I  had  engaged  numbers 
of  them  to  assist  on  my  journey  and  in  building  boats, 
but  invariably  every  one  broke  his  promise,  and  refused 
to  continue  even  for  double  the  wages  ordinarily  paid. 
For  that  reason  I  made  up  my  mind  that  Indians  would 
not  work.  When  I  arrived  here,  the  mystery  was  solved. 
It  appeared  there  had  been  mysterious  messengers  sent 
ahead,  and  after  me,  from  Edmonton,  who  carried  orders 
warning  all  Indians  of  the  purpose  of  my  mission ;  and 
ordering  them  to  refuse  me  any  assistance  whatever,  and 
to  place  all  the  obstacles  in  my  way  possible,  even  to  kill- 
ing the  animals  I  might  capture,  rather  than  permit  them 
to  leave  the  country. 

What  surprised  me  more  than  anything  else  was  that 
some  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company's  officials  prompted 
the  savages  to  take  the  action  which  they  did,  particu- 
larly Dr.  McKey,  of  Chippewayan.  He  came  out  boldly, 
and  advised  the  Indians  in  my  presence  not  to  give  me 
assistance  in  any  form  ;  and  when  he  saw  they  could  not 
turn  me  back,  he  took  it  upon  himself  to  read  me,  from  a 
volume  of  statutes,  the  law  in  relation  to  killing  game  in 
the  Northwest  Territory,  notifying  me  that  if  I  violated  it 
he  would  " prosecute  me  to  the  bitter  end."  He  said  he 
had  called  his  people  together  to  take  the  subject  of  my 
intentions  under  consideration,  and  that  they  were  very 


308 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


indignant,  etc.  To  be  sure,  I  did  not  kill  any  game,  and 
the  Doctor  was  not  smart  enough  to  follow  me  to  find  out 
whether  I  did.  I  learned  he  had  an  Indian  woman  for  a 
wife  or  mistress ;  had  a  houseful  of  half-breed  children  to 
look  after,  and  I  presume  these  facts,  as  well  as  his  being 
a  hireling  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  prevented  him 
from  keeping  an  eye  on  me. 

A  letter  had  also  been  sent  ahead  of  me  to  the  high 
priests  and  big  chiefs,  bearing  the  commands  I  have  re- 
ferred to.  I  tried  hard  to  get  a  photograph  of  the  letter, 
but  the  Hudson  Bay  Company's  interpreter  at  Fort  Reso- 
lution, who  had  it  in  his  charge,  declared  he  had  lost  it, 
which  I  knew  to  be  a  subterfuge  to  prevent  me  from  pho- 
tographing it.  The  document  was  one  mass  of  hiero- 
glyphics and  characters,  readable  only  by  the  natives. 

I  had  only  one  hope  of  success,  and  that  was  the  aid  of 
Messrs.  Armstrong,  Rea,  and  Van  Nest.  They  agreed  to 
stay  with  me  until  we  were  successful,  if  it  required  ten 
years.  I  was  told  all  along  the  route  by  Hudson  Bay 
Company  traders  that  I  would  never  take  a  musk-ox  out 
of  the  northern  country,  and  that  I  was  only  wasting  my 
time  to  attempt  it,  for  the  Indians  would  never  help  me 
in  the  least.  More  than  that,  if  I  did  get  any,  the  In- 
dians would  kill  them  rather  than  permit  them  to  go  out 
of  the  country  alive.  I  now  believe  and  realize  the  fact 
that  some  of  these  traders  knew  of  the  conspiracy  and  the 
letters  that  had  been  sent  in  advance  of  my  coming. 

A.s  a  rule,  I  found  most  of  the  white  men  of  the  north- 
ern country  were  very  hospitable  and  kindly  disposed ; 
particularly  so  was  Mr.  James  McKinley,  of  Fort  Smith. 
He  has  charge  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company's  headquar- 
ters there,  and  superintends  the  transportation  of  their 
goods  across  the  portage.  Their  freight  is  hauled  on  two- 
wheeled  ox-carts.  The  oxen  are  wintered  in  sheds,  with 
an  abundance  of  choice  hay  for  forage,  cut  near  that 
place.  I  desire  to  mention  among  the  employes  of  the 
Company  those  who  were  very  courteous  to  me  and  as- 


CURRENCY  AT  FORT  RESOLUTION 


309 


sisted  me  in  many  little  ways,  Mr.  Gaudet  and  Mr.  Cam- 
sell.  Ed.  Nagle,  of  Fort  Resolution,  is  a  free  trader  on 
his  own  responsibility.  He  is  a  gentleman  in  the  strict- 
est meaning  of  the  term.  His  wife  is  the  only  white  lady 
in  that  region. 

When  September  arrived  the  nights  were  chilly,  and 
when  the  rain  was  not  pouring  down  it  was  generally 
frosty  and  cold.  Money  is  no  inducement  to  people  in 
this  region;  they  do  not  know  what  a  dollar  or  a  shil- 
ling is.  I  have  often  heard  political  speakers  assert  from 
the  stump  that  they  wan  ted.  "a  dollar  good  the  world 
over."  I  am  certain  they  were  never  out  of  the  United 
States,  especially  never  in  the  land  of  the  aurora  bo^ealis. 
All  the  gold  or  silver  dollars  in  the  world  would  not  have 
purchased  nails  enough  to  build  my  boat,  for  the  nails 
were  not  to  be  had  there.  Even  if  there  were  plenty,  the 
Indians  would  not  trade  them  for  coin,  as  their  unit  of 
value  is  a  "  skin." 

A  skin  was  originally  a  beaver-skin,  and  all  values  were 
based  on  it.  A  beaver-skin  at  present  is  worth  "  twelve 
skins,"  a  marten  is  worth  "five  skins,"  etc.  They  do 
not  even  have  greenbacks,  gold,  silver  or  copper  to  repre- 
sent their  unit  of  value.  It  is  worse  than  any  fiat  money 
ever  advocated,  as  its  basis  is  only  imaginary;  still,  it 
serves  all  demands. 

Fortunately,  I  had  brought  with  me  about  fifteen 
pounds  of  assorted  nails,  and  they  were  of  more  value  in 
boat-building  than  all  the  gold  or  silver  I  could  have  car- 
ried. 

On  the  6th  of  September  my  boat  was  completed.  The 
little  yacht  was  a  4  daisy ' ;  twenty-two  feet  long  and  sh^ 
feet  beam.  The  wind  and  rain  were  strong  from  the  east. 
Northeast  was  our  course,  yet  we  were  obliged  to  go  five 
miles  westward  to  round  a  point  that  incloses  a  bay. 
What  an  experience  we  had  after  leaving  Fort  Resolution 
on  the  6th !  I  had  often  been  told  of  the  perils  and  haz- 
ards of  the  "Great  Spirit  lake";  that  it  was  the  most 


310 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


treacherous  of  all  waters ;  that  the  storms  rose  when  least 
expected;  the  waves  so  short  and  choppy  that  no  boat 
could  be  constructed  that  would  withstand  the  tem- 
pests, and  many  were  the  bones  of  human  skeletons  that 
strewed  the  bottom,  where  bottom  was  to  be  found;  that 
in  numerous  places  no  bottom  had  ever  been  discovered, — 
which  is  no  doubt  true,  as  we  had  no  line  sufficiently  long 
to  fathom  it. 

On  the  8th  of  September  came  a  howling  blizzard  from 
the  north,  but  we  were  in  a  good  harbor,  and  suffered  but 
little  from  the  raging  storm.  On  the  morning  of  the 
next  day  the  wind  shifted  to  the  west,  exactly  in  our  fa- 
vor, and  we  sailed  eastward  to  the  "Point  of  Rocks," 
where  it  again  veered  to  the  southeast.  Here  we  were 
compelled  to  sail  northeast  to  an  island  fifteen  miles 
away.  The  wind  was  blowing  a  perfect  gale,  but  the  In- 
dians who  accompanied  us  agreed  to  make  the  venture, 
and  at  four  o'clock  we  set  sail.  After  going  about  five 
miles  the  wind  shifted  due  east,  which  was  almost  a  head- 
wind to  where  we  were  going.  Then  the  heavens  began  to 
roll  and  tumble;  the  waves  commenced  to  emulate  them, 
while  the  gale  increased  in  fierceness,  piling  the  billows 
up  in  great  black  masses.  Then  came  a  tempest  of  wind 
with  increased  velocity,  heaping  them  higher  and  higher, 
until  they  seemed  to  reach  the  low  black  clouds  above 
them.  What  a  night  it  was !  In- the  stern  sat  "  Old 
Siena"  (the  Indian  had  passed  the  allotted  threescore 
and  ten),  guiding  our  frail  bark,  as  the  mighty  waves 
tossed  us  about  like  a  straw.  The  old  fellow  would  occa- 
sionally emit  a  groan,  which  seemed  as  if  it  might  be  his 
last;  at  times  I  could  not  see  his  form,  crouched  down 
under  the  inky  blackness  surrounding  us.  All  the  others 
could  do  was  to  bail  water  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and  by 
herculean  exertions  we  managed  to  keep  our  craft  afloat 
on  the  angry  surf. 

Hour  after  hour  slowly  —  oh,  how  slowly! — passed 
away;  where  we  were,  no  one  could  tell.    None  of  the 


TOSSED  BY  THE  STORM  ON  GREAT  SLAVE  LAKE  311 

Indians  could  speak  a  word  of  English,  much  less  could  I 
speak  a  word  of  theirs, —  the  language  of  the  "  Yellow 
Knife"  tribe. 

Mr.  Rea  and  an  Indian  in  another  boat,  of  the  same 
dimensions  as  mine,  started  at  the  same  time  we  did,  with 
an  agreement  that  we  were  to  keep  as  near  each  other  as 
possible,  thus  making  the  risk  of  life  much  less  than  if  we 
were  far  separated.  They  had  been  driven  from  us,  or  we 
from  them,  but  which,  no  one  could  tell ;  there  were,  how- 
ever, never  two  more  helpless  crafts  tossed  hither  and 
thither  on  the  dark  deep  sea.  It  was  long  after  the  mid- 
night hour  as  we  still  struggled  with  nature's  most  dan- 
gerous elements,  wind  and  water,  when  suddenly  appeared, 
a  little  to  the  right,  a  black  object.  I  shouted  to  the  old 
savage  in  the  stern,  and  pointed  toward  it.  He  spoke  to 
the  young  Indian,  in  the  bow,  and  he  responded,  uAn- 
noe !  ' '  I  had  no  idea  what  "  annoe  "  meant,  but  from  the 
joyous  tones  of  the  young  savage's  voice,  I  felt  certain 
that  it  must  be  land.  Unfortunately,  the  wind  was  blow- 
ing directly  from  it,  which  made  it  impossible  for  us  to 
land.  I  made  signs  to  turn  and  tack,  so  as  to  make  it  if 
possible,  but  the  old  fellow  shook  his*  head  and  yelled  to 
his  companion,  and  immediately  a  most  exciting  colloquy 
occurred  between  them,  which  made  me  feel  uncomfort- 
able indeed,  for  I  really  thought  we  had  missed  the  island 
and  were  drifting  to  sea.  Finally  the  old  savage  bore 
heavily  down  on  the  long  sweep  he  used  as  a  rudder,  and 
we  changed  our  course  more  to  the  left,  and  sped  on  more 
swiftly  through  the  foaming  surf,  with  the  wind  bearing 
harder  on  our  broad  sail  than  before,  and  in  a  moment 
we  were  in  the  trough  of  the  terrible  sea,  the  huge  waves 
striking  the  boat  sideways.  Then  of  all  the  rolling  and 
pitching  I  had  ever  experienced  (and  I  have  twice  crossed 
the  Atlantic,  sailed  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  all  the 
great  lakes),  it  was  that  hour  in  our  harassing  position 
that  night,  or  rather,  morning. 

Again  our  young  Indian  yelled  out,  "Annoe  !  annoe  !  " 


312 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


(island).  Just  ahead  I  saw  a  dim,  dark  object.  Imag- 
ine the  sensation  that  came  over  me ;  the  chills  traversed 
up  and  down  my  spinal  column  ;  I  trembled  between  hope 
and  despair.  It  was  only  for  a  moment,  happily,  as  my 
pilot  swung  the  boat  still  more  to  the  left,  so  as  to  make 
the  leeward  side  of  the  island.  I  could  clearly  see  the 
trees  waving  before  the  maddened  tempest,  and  hope  pre- 
dominated; fear  was  left  behind,  for  in  a  few  moments 
we  were  brought  into  one  of  the  prettiest  little  harbors  I 
ever  saw,  with  mountains  of  moss-covered  rocks  on  all 
sides. 

Where  was  Mr.  Rea  ?  We  fired  guns  and  carried  torches 
to  the  highest  peaks,  but  there  was  no  responsive  signal. 
A  bright  beacon-fire  was  kept  burning  at  the  apex  of  the 
loftiest  mountain  we  could  ascend.  Then  we  rolled  our- 
selves in  our  blankets,  wet,  cold,  and  disturbed  in  mind, 
—  at  least  I  w^as,  for  the  safety  of  my  companion.  I  was 
soon  asleep,  and  enjoyed  that  rest  we  all  so  much  needed 
after  our  adventurous  and  dangerous  voyage. 

At  the  first  streak  of  dawn  the  beacon-fire  was  again 
kindled,  to  make  smoke,  and  our  guns  discharged,  but 
there  was  no  response  excepting  the  reverberating  echoes. 
About  eight  o'clock,  however,  the  young  Indian  pointed 
to  an  island  several  miles  distant  to  the  northeast,  and 
exclaimed,  44  Con!  "  (fire).  I  could  plainly  see  a  streak 
of  blue  smoke  ascending  from  among  the  little  peaks,  and 
by  the  aid  of  my  field-glasses  could  easily  discern  the 
mainmast  of  a  boat.  This  was  indeed  joy  for  me ;  break- 
fast was  hurriedly  prepared  and  disposed  of,  and  as  the 
wind  had  completely  subsided,  we  soon  were  plying  the 
oars,  and  after  a  long  pull,  joined  our  comrades,  who  were 
without  bread  or  meat,  as  the  provisions  had  all  been 
loaded  into  my  boat.  When  we  reached  them,  mutual 
congratulations  were  had  on  our  fortunate  escape  from 
watery  deaths,  and  we  all  indulged  in  a  social  cup  of  tea, 
exchanging  experiences  regarding  one  of  the  most  terrible 
nights  that  had  ever  fallen  to  our  lot. 


TREACHERY  OF  OLD  SIENA 


313 


The  old  chief  and  two  young  Indians  had  been  em- 
ployed by  Mr.  Rea  to  pilot  him  to  Fort  Reliance,  before 
it  was  known  that  I  wras  to  accompany  him.  There  they 
wrere  to  take  him  on  a  musk-ox  hunt  in  October,  and  had 
the  contract  made  in  writing,  and  witnessed  at  Fort  Res- 
olution. True,  the  old  chief  did  not  sign  it,  for  the  simple 
reason  that  he  could  not  write;  yet  its  terms  were  acqui- 
esced in  verbally.  But  when  he  discovered  I  was  to  be 
one  of  the  party,  and  that  I  was  to  get  musk-oxen  alive, 
he  was  horrified ;  and  when  we  arrived  at  Fort  Reliance 
and  demanded  to  be  piloted  to  the  place  where  the  herd 
of  coveted  oxen  were  to  be  found,  he  absolutely  refused  to 
move  a  step  further  under  any  consideration.  We  ex- 
plained to  the  other  Indians,  as  best  we  could,  the  stipu- 
lations of  the  contract,  and  in  his  presence  denounced 
him  in  the  bitterest  terms  to  be  found  in  their  language. 

On  the  22d  of  September  we  arrived  at  Fort  Reliance, 
having  made  three  hundred  miles  since  leaving  Fort  Reso- 
lution. The  prevailing  wind  during  our  voyage  had  been 
from  the  northeast,  and  on  the  9th  of  September  and  up 
to  the  21st  we  had  it  directly  ahead,  or  no  wind  at  all. 
Oars  were  our  only  propelling  power,  and  we  consequently 
made  slow  progress,  especially  against  the  furious  wind 
and  a  heavy  sea. 

About  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  21st,  a  brisk 
breeze  came  from  the  west,  and  we  rolled  out  of  our 
blankets,  hoisted  our  sails,  and  went  flying  through  the 
foaming  water.  We  were  then  within  forty  miles  of  our 
destination  ( Fort  Reliance),  but  as  the  sun  rose  higher  in 
the  heavens  the  wind  abated,  and  again  we  were  left  to 
our  only  resource,  "  paddling  our  own  canoe,"  and  obliged 
to  cross  a  large  bay  fifteen  miles  in  width.  At  sundown 
we  reached  the  opposite  shore,  all  tired  out. 

After  we  had  partaken  of  our  evening  meal  we  fully  ex- 
pected to  lie  down  and  indulge  in  a  good  rest.  The  In- 
dians had  been  firing  their  guns  all  the  afternoon ;  it  is  a 
common  custom  among  them,  when  approaching  a  village 


314 


FORTY  YEARS  OF  ADVENTURES 


after  they  have  been  absent  for  a  time,  to  fire  a  salute  as 
soon  as  within  hearing  distance.  The  longer  they  have 
been  gone,  the  more  salutes  are  given.  Also,  if  they  have 
been  successful  on  their  hunt  the  number  of  salutes  is  in- 
creased accordingly.  The  Indians  told  us  they  would  row 
us  to  Fort  Reliance,  fifteen  miles  ahead,  if  we  would  per- 
mit it,  and  that  we  might  sleep  in  the  boats.  We  decided 
to  allow  them  their  own  way  for  once. 

Being  very  tired,  we  were  soon  fast  asleep,  but  were 
suddenly  aroused  by  the  report  of  a  gun  a  little  distance 
ahead.  On  looking  up,  "  Old  Siena"  and  young  Pierre 
were  tumbling  over  each  other  after  something,  for  a 
moment  I  could  not  tell  what.  In  another  moment  Pierre 
had  my  Winchester  and  was  sending  shot  after  shot 
straight  into  the  air,  while  the  old  chief  had  my  double- 
barreled  shotgun  and  was  going  through  the  same  per- 
formance. It  was  my  favorite  breech-loader,  and  he  was 
running  the  shells  into  it  as  fast  as  possible,  while  the 
younger  one  was  emptying  the  magazine  of  my  Winches- 
ter, and  was  in  the  act  of  reaching  over  for  a  bag  of  cart- 
ridges to  dispose  of  them  in  the  same  manner.  I  grabbed 
hold  of  it  first,  and  that  put  an  end  to  their  fun  for  that 
night.  All  this  time  there  was  a  continual  blaze  of 
flashes  from  the  guns  on  the  shore,  and  also  from  those 
in  the  flotilla  of  birch-bark  canoes  just  ahead  of  us. 
It  was  a  wild-looking  scene.  It  did  not  take  them  long 
to  get  to  our  boats,  and  then  we  must  shake  hands  with 
the  whole  lot.  Old  Siena  said,  ' 'La  tea!  la  tea!"  and 
all  of  us  understood  what  that  meant.  He  was  going 
ashore  and  give  his  hungry  friends  a  great  feast  of  tea  and 
"molar  metsou "  (white  man's  dinner),  but  Mr.  Rea 
and  I  concluded  that  as  we  had  just  finished  a  hearty  sup- 
per it  would  last  us  until  midnight,  at  least.  Mr.  Rea 
shouted  to  Old  Siena  as  he  was  swinging  my  boat  to  shore, 
"Ela!"  (no).  By  signals  and  what  few  words  of  the 
Slave  language  we  could  command,  we  notified  the  chief 
that  we  must  either  go  on  until  midnight,  or  no  "  la  tea." 


ARRIVAL  AT  FORT  RELIANCE 


315 


This  was  cold  comfort  for  the  Indians,  who  had  been 
without  tea  for  months,  and  perhaps  years  without  tast- 
ing bread.  We  were  well  satisfied  that  the  whole  tribe 
expected  to  feast  off  our  supplies  as  long  as  they  held  out. 
The  Indians  all  laid  down  their  oars,  and  our  barks 
drifted  before  a  stiff  easterly  gale  in  the  direction  whence 
they  had  come.  Finally,  Mr.  Rea  made  the  old  chief 
understand  that  when  we  should  reach  a  point  five  miles 
away,  that  we  had  noticed  before  dark,  we  would  have 
"la  tea."  Upon  this  gratifying  intelligence  the  oars 
were  quickly  put  in  motion  again ;  one  large  canoe  shot 
off  ahead,  and  before  our  boats  were  half-way  to  the  ob- 
jective point,  a  brilliant  fire  was  burning  there.  It  was 
nearly  midnight  when  we  arrived.  A  quantity  of  tea, 
flour,  some  bacon  and  tobacco  were  handed  out  to  the  In- 
dians. We  then  rolled  up  in  our  blankets  and  slept  in 
our  boats  until  daylight.  When  we  awoke,  the  whole 
group  of  Indians  were  seated  around  the  fire,  drinking  tea 
and  smoking  their  pipes.  They  had  not  slept  a  moment 
during  the  whole  night;  it  wTas  the  greatest  "  hurrah" 
they  ever  had. 

On  the  22d  we  pulled  about  four  miles  farther  to  the 
northeast,  and  landed  at  Fort  Reliance  at  9  o'clock  a.  m. 
On  our  arrival,  there  came  swarms  of  Indians  from  every 
point  of  the  compass,  for  several  days,  but  we  shut  off  on 
all  their  begging,  excepting  to  give  them  some  tea,  enough 
for  one  meal  only.  They  appeared  very  much  disap- 
pointed. Doubtless  they  had  expected  to  spend  several 
weeks  with  us,  helping  to  enjoy  our  winter  supply  of  pro- 
visions. 

Fort  Reliance  is  not  and  never  was  a  fort  in  the  com- 
monly accepted  definition  of  the  term.  It  is  where  Capt. 
Geo.  Back,  of  the  Royal  Navy,  passed  the  winter  of  1833-4, 
sixty-five  years  ago.  Capt.  Back  was  Sir  John  Franklin's 
most  trusted  friend,  and  on  his  first  expedition  to  the 
Arctic  regions,  through  most  heroic  efforts,  relief  reached 
Franklin  and  the  few  survivors  of  his  party,  at  Fort  En- 


316 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


terprise,  during  the  winter  of  1820.  Fort  Reliance  was 
built  many  years  after  the  last-mentioned  date,  while 
Capt.  Back  was  in  search  of  Capt.  John  Ross,  who  had  al- 
most been  given  up  as  lost  in  the  eternal  ice  of  the  Arctic 
Circle.  A  little  history  of  the  relief  expedition  will  not 
be  out  of  place  here : 

"  Owing  to  the  long  absence  of  Capt.  Ross,  of  the  Vic- 
toria, in  the  northern  seas,  a  relief  and  exploring  ex- 
pedition was  organized  under  command  of  Capt.  Back, 
intending  to  reach  the  north  coast  of  America  by  descend- 
ing the  Great  Fish  river.  This  was  supposed  to  flow  in  a 
northeast  direction,  and  reach  the  sea  at  no  great  dis- 
tance from  the  longitude  in  which  Perry's  ship  '  Fury ' 
had  been  abandoned  in  1824.  It  was  known  that  Ross 
would  endeavor  to  reach  this  spot  and  take  some  of  the 
store  of  provisions  piled  up  on  the  beach.  Capt.  Back, 
therefore,  in  1833  reached  the  Great  Slave  lake,  and  ad- 
vanced by  Aylmer  lake  to  Clinton  Golden  lake,  and^ 
made  an  examination  of  the  headwaters  of  the  Fish  river. 
Then  he  returned  to  the  wooded  country  by  way  of  Artil- 
lery lake  to  winter.  At  the  eastern  end  of  the  Great 
Slave  lake  he  built  his  winter  quarters,  and  called  the 
place  Fort  Reliance. 

"  Early  in  the  spring  a  start  was  made,  and  during  the 
summer  he  successfully  descended  the  river  to  the  sea, 
and  by  fall  had  returned  to  his  former  winter  quarters, 
where  he  passed  the  winter  of  1834,  and  then  returned  to 
England." 

The  old  quarters  were  of  great  interest  from  a  historical 
point  of  view.  Capt.  Back  chose  this  spot  on  account  of 
the  abundance  of  wood  in  the  vicinity  for  the  construc- 
tion of  his  cabins  and  for  fuel.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  Capt.  Back  passed  through  Hudson  bay,  up  the  Sas- 
katchewan river,  and  down  the  Athabaska  and  Slave 
rivers  to  Fort  Resolution  and  Clinton  Golden  lake  and 


KUINS  OF  CAPTAIN  BACK'S  CABINS 


317 


back  to  Fort  Reliance,  during  the  summer  of  1833.  He 
returned  from  Clinton  Golden  lake  by  way  of  Artillery 
lake,  the  same  route  which  we  followed  when  in  pursuit 
of  musk-oxen.    In  his  report  to  the  Admiralty  he  said : 

"At  Cat,  or  Artillery  lake,  we  abandoned  our  canoe  and 
performed  the  rest  of  our  journey  on  foot,  over  precipitous 
rocks,  through  frightful  gorges  and  ravines,  heaped  with 
masses  of  granite,  and  narrow  ledges  where  a  false  step 
would  have  been  fatal." 

The  buildings  the  gallant  captain  constructed  were  of 
logs,  but  they  were  long  since  destroyed  by  fire,  and  the 
only  relics  of  the  once  substantial  cabins  are  the  stone 
chimneys,  by  the  fire  of  which  those  early  explorers  kept 
themselves  from  freezing,  and  experienced  those  hardships 
which  are  now  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  search  for  the 
Northwest  passage.    There  are  four  of  these  remains  of 
chimneys,  and  the  only  marks  by  which  one  can  distin- 
guish the  outlines  of  the  cabins  are  the  moss-covered  ridges 
that  mark  their  place.    The  chimneys  were  of  gigantic 
dimensions,  measuring  five  by  eight  feet  at  their  base; 
two  still  standing,  whose  tops  are  fourteen  feet  from  the 
ground,  show  their  height.    The  mortar  employed  in  their 
construction  was  clay,  without  any  admixture  of  lime, 
but  its  place  substituted  by  sand.    The  clay  had  to  be 
conveyed  in  boats  from  a  point  four  miles  up  the  river. 
The  Indians  knew  where  it  came  from,  and  showed  us  the 
spot ;  it  appears  to  be  the  only  clay  in  all  that  barren  re- 
gion.   Grass  had  been  worked  into  the  mortar,  after  the 
Mexican  method  of  making  their  sunburnt  bricks  or 
adobes,  or  such  as  the  children  of  Israel  used  excepting 
when  Pharaoh  denied  them  the  straw.    The  mortar  seems 
to  be  as  good  to-day  as  when  first  used.    The  cabins,  judg- 
ing from  the  charred  remains  of  portions  of  a  bottom  log, 
had  been  destroyed  by  fire,  and  they  were  so  well  pre- 
served that  I  extracted  a  stick  about  a  foot  long  from 
one,  which  was  reasonably  sound. 


318 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


We  found  several  articles  in  digging  among  the  ruins, 
among  them  a  file,  and  a  portion  of  the  head  of  a  keg. 
They  were  discovered  near  the  chimney,  covered  by  ashes 
which  probably  saved  them  from  that  disintegration  which 
marks  everything  else  belonging  to  the  hardy  explorers- 
The  piece  of  keg  referred  to  evidently  once  held  some 
alcoholic  stimulants ;  for  in  the  early  days  of  Arctic  ex- 
ploration, existence  in  that  frozen  region  was  deemed  im- 
possible without  it.  Now,  happily,  that  theory,  like  many 
others,  has  been  exploded.  We  neither  took  with  us,  nor 
touched  a  drop  of  spirits  during  our  long  and  adventurous 
journey  into  the  far  North ;  never  deeming  it  at  all  requi- 
site,—  despite  the  intensity  of  the  cold,  darkness,  and 
continual  disagreeable  weather.  No  doubt  many  former 
explorers  would  have  been  better  off,  had  they  done  as 
we  did. 

These  ruins  are  situated  at  the  extreme  northeast  end 
of  Great  Slave  lake,  at  the  mouth  of  a  stream  which 
drains  Artillery  lake.  Pines  and  birches  have  sprung  up 
all  around  the  historic  spot,  which  gives  the  place  the 
semblance  of  a  beautiful  but  abandoned  park.  I  suc- 
ceeded in  photographing  the  ruins  before  disturbing  them 
in  any  particular,  and  regard  these  pictures  as  among  my 
most  valuable  souvenirs,  as  we  undoubtedly  are  the  only, 
white  persons  who  have  visited  this  historic  spot  since  it 
was  abandoned. 

The  distance  of  the  ruins  from  Fort  Resolution  is  about 
three  hundred  miles.  The  route  to  them  is  through  groups 
of  islands,  many  of  which  are  nothing  but  huge  masses  of 
rock,  while  others  are  richly  clothed  with  pines  and  de- 
ciduous shrubs,  the  ground  beneath  carpeted  with  bright 
moss.  Their  elevation  above  the  water  varies  as  greatly 
as  their  physical  formation;  frequently  rising  more  than 
a  thousand  feet,  with  walls  that  are  sheer  perpendicular 
from  six  to  eight  hundred  feet,  and  their  horizontal  length 
often  extending  for  miles.  The  formation  of  the  rock  of 
which  they  are  composed  appears  to  be  a  species  of  flinty 


FINNY  INHABITANTS  OF  GREAT  SLAVE  LAKE  319 

granite  varying  strongly  in  color,  with  the  lines  of  strati- 
fication distinctly  marked. 

The  water  of  the  lake  north  of  the  chain  of  islands  is 
almost  transparent, —  so  clear,  in  fact,  that  an  object  fifty 
feet  below  the  surface  can  be  distinctly  seen ;  while  on 
the  south  side,  next  to  Peace,  or  Slave  river,  the  water  is 
muddy  and  full  of  silt.  This  chain  of  islands  reaches 
from  the  east  shore  through  the  center  of  the  lake  nearly 
to  the  most  western  extremity. 

The  lake  abounds  in  fish  of  several  varieties,  all  of 
which  are  of  excellent  quality.  Whitefish  predominate, 
which  are  very  oily, —  a  statement  which  probably  no  one 
would  believe  without  having  had  ocular  demonstration 
as  we  had.  The  number  of  trout  is  also  marvelous,  espe- 
cially in  the  clear  water  described  in  the  preceding  para- 
graph. There  is  another  fish  which  it  is  believed  is  found 
only  in  this  lake  and  its  tributaries.  It  is  fairly  eatable, 
and  is  caught  only  with  a  spoon-hook,  baited  hook,  or  net. 
It  is  colloquially  called  64  cony,"  which  seems  to  be  a  cor- 
ruption of  some  word  whose  derivation  I  could  not  clearly 
make  out,  but  probably  the  French  ' '  inconnu. ' '  These  fish 
are  used  principally  as  feed  for  the  dogs. 

Trout  are  generally  caught  by  spoon-hooks  and  lines 
from  a  boat,  by  the  method  known  as  trawling.  I  once 
regarded  it  as  great  sport  to  catch  trout  in  the  manner 
indicated,  but  hauled  out  so  many  in  the  Great  Slave 
lake  it  was  no  longer  a  pleasure,  but  hard  labor.  White- 
fish  are  captured  only  by  nets. 

Fish  in  the  lakes  and  game  in  the  forests  bordering  the 
Barren  Lands  are  in  great  abundance,  and  are  the  only 
support  of  a  vast  multitude  of  human  beings, — the  many 
tribes  who  live  on  the  shores  of  the  lakes  and  the  streams 
tributary  to  them. 


CHAPTER  XX 


an  Indian's  wife  of  less  value  than  a  dog — mercury 
at  zero  october  10  —  j.  r.  rea,  a  hero  of  heroes  — 
desperation  of  indians  —  cruelty  to  a  deaf  and 
dumb  girl  —  children  frightened  at  white  men  —  on 
tasting  sugar,  they  shouted,  "  hoppy  shompooly !  " 
j  sweet  salt) — indians  take  provisions  by  force  — 
they  also  apply  the  torch  to  colonel  jones's  cabin 
—  he  shoots  his  first  reindeer  —  indians  starving  — 

CONJURE  THE  RETURN  OF  THE  REINDEER  —  WHEN  THEY 
DID  COME,  COLONEL  JONES  KILLED  THEM  —  INDIANS  EN- 
RAGED—  CLAIMED  BUT  DID  NOT  GET  THEM 


AN  Indian  regards  his  wife,  or  mate  ( as  that  is  the 
term  that  represents  it  in  the  far  north),  with  less 
L  consideration  than  he  does  his  dog.  They  are,  it 
is  true,  of  greater  value  from  a  purely  utilitarian 
standpoint,  because  they  are  able  to  work  both  winter 
and  summer,  while  the  dog  works  only  during  the  for- 
mer season.  While  the  wife  was  employed  in  erecting  the 
teepee,  perhaps  sick  from  constant  exposure,  hardly  able 
to  gather  sticks  to  keep  up  the  necessary  fires,  with  the 
thermometer  ranging  from  fifty  to  seventy  degrees  below 
zero,  the  husbands  would  be  idling  in  our  cabin  from 
early  morning  till  late  at  night,  leaving  their  comfort- 
able places  at  the  last  moment  before  we  closed  the  door 
to  retire.  Frequently,  to  rid  ourselves  of  their  vermin- 
infested  presence,  we  would  make  a  bowl  of  gruel  and  a 
pot  of  tea  for  an  ailing  squaw,  which  we  sent  to  her  by  the 
hands  of  the  children.    In  a  few  moments  the  "buck" 

(  320) 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  WINTER 


321 


Indian  would  start  for  his  lodge,  hoping,  no  doubt,  to  rob 
the  poor  woman  of  the  only  comfort  she  could  enjoy. 

The  greatest  annoyance  we  experienced  was  from  the 
Indians,  who  crowded  into  our  room;  and  no  matter 
how  many  were  already  there,  they  always  seemed  to 
think  there  was  room  for  one  more.  We  refrained  from 
ordering  them  away,  for  it  would  have  been  an  insult  to 
the  whole  tribe ;  and  we  needed  their  assistance  as  guides 
in  the  musk-ox  hunt. 

As  soon  as  we  learned  there  was  no  prospect  of  obtain- 
ing any  musk-oxen,  and  that  we  would  not  be  ready  to  re- 
turn before  the  winter  set  in,  we  determined  to  pass  the 
weary  days,  weeks  and  months  in  the  land  of  the  aurora 
boreal  is.  We  were  only  partially  prepared  for  the  siege, 
as  before  leaving  home  I  had  taken  no  thought  of  spend- 
ing a  whole  year  in  that  remote  northern  portion  of  the 
continent.  I  did  not  even  provide  myself  with  an  over- 
coat. I  had  plenty  of  blankets  made  from  the  fur  of  the 
buffalo,  which  served  me  on  all  occasion's,  and  they  doubt- 
less were  often  the  means  of  preserving  my  life. 

We  each  possessed  an  axe,  felled  the  dry  timber,  about 
eighteen  inches  at  the  butt,  and  built  a  cabin  sixteen  by 
twenty  feet,  which  was  sufficiently  large  to  admit  sixty  or 
seventy  Indians  at  one  time.  We  were  compelled  to  raft 
the  logs  for  its  construction  from  four  to  five  miles,  and 
carry  them  on  our  shoulders  fully  one  hundred  yards,  a 
good  load  for  four  men.  Timber  was  only  found  in  shel- 
tered ravines.  In  fact,  these  ravines  are  the  only  fertile 
spots  in  all  that  region,  the  formation  of  the  whole  coun- 
try being  nothing  but  great  mountains  of  stone.  We  lost 
no  time  in  preparing  ourselves,  and  on  the  2d  of  October 
moved  into  our  hurriedly  constructed  cabin.  That  night 
it  blew  a  hurricane,  accompanied  by  a  terrific  fall  of 
snow.  It  may  be  imagined  how  grateful  we  were  to  be  so 
well  housed  from  the  raging  blizzard.  I  had  been  on  the 
road  for  nearly  four  months ;  had  not  slept  under  a  roof 
or  in  a  bed  during  the  whole  time.  The  rain  had  poured 
—  21 


322 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


upon  me  nearly  every  day  during  that  period,  and  most 
of  the  time  I  was  literally  soaked;  but  now  what  joy  and 
comfort  we  could  take ! 

The  snow  that  had  commenced  to  fall  when  we  luckily 
got  into  our  cabin,  continued  without  interruption  for 
several  days,  and  on  the  10th  of  October  the  mercury  sank 
to  zero ;  on  the  next  day,  four  degrees  below.  We  had  no 
lumber  for  a  door  or  glass  for  a  window,  but  utilized  blan- 
kets for  the  openings,  which  made  our  quarters  rather 
dark  and  dismal,  even  very  cold,  as  the  clay  we  used  for 
daubing  and  the  earth  floor  had  been  covered  with  water 
from  the  continuous  rains,  and  was  still  thoroughly  satu- 
rated. After  the  11th,  however,  the  weather  moderated, 
and  we  took  advantage  of  it  to  hew  some  timber  into 
thick  boards,  and  made  a  door.  We  also  used  a  white 
shirt  to  cover  the  opening  intended  for  a  window,  which 
admitted  some  light, —  besides  an  abundance  of  healthful 
ventilation ! 

My  companion,  John  R.  Rea,  was  born  in  1857,  near 
Kingston,  Ontario,  Canada.  His  parents  were  in  but 
moderate  circumstances,  and  John  was  obliged  to  work  to 
help  maintain  the  family.  His  schooling  was  like  that 
of  boys  in  similar  pecuniary  condition.  He  served  an 
apprenticeship  at  blacksmithing,  and  he  apparently  had 
a  taste  for  that  art.  He  is  about  5  feet  8  inches  in 
height,  and  weighs  190  pounds ;  is  well-muscled  and  coura- 
geous. He  is  apparently  a  natural-born  mechanic ;  of  a 
quiet  disposition;  says  but  very  little,  but  what  he  does 
say  is  always  full  of  meaning.  His  broad  chin  and 
high  cheek-bones  do  not  betray  his  character,  as  a  more 
resolute  and  determined  man  to  carry  out  any  and  every 
undertaking  is  seldom  met  with.  He  could  sing  but  one 
song,  "  The  ship  that  never  returned";  and  I  must  con- 
fess, the  doleful  music  had  no  charms  for  me.  He  was 
just  the  kind  of  metal  needed  throughout  our  journey, 
and  was  a  very  useful  man.  Mr.  Rea  had  already  passed 
one  winter  on  the  Mackenzie  river.    With  some  canvas 


JOHN  SR.  REA. 


PERSISTENT  INDIAN  BEGGARS 


323 


we  had  been  using  as  a  tent,  he  made  harness  for  our 
four  big  dogs ;  also  built  a  sled,  and  we  soon  piled  up 
plenty  of  good  dry  wood,  that  we  had  to  haul  nearly  a  mile 
over  some  pretty  rough  roads,  or  rather,  no  roads  at  all. 

October  was  a  blustery  month.  Snow-storms  were  fre- 
quent. The  ice  was  thick  dn  the  bays  and  margin  of  the 
large  lake,  and  the  fish  had  departed  for  parts  unknown. 
The  reindeer  were  expected  daily,  but  as  time  rolled  on 
they  failed  to  put  in  an  appearance,  bringing  only  disap- 
pointment and  hunger  to  the  Indians,  as  well  as  to  our- 
selves. Eatables  were  getting  very  scarce,  and  the  Indians 
continued  to  come  from  all  directions,  hoping  to  beg  meat 
and  a  cup  of  tea  from  the  mysterious  palefaces  who  had 
invaded  their  domain.  I  had  often  read  of  the  few  expe- 
ditions to  the  far  North ;  how  the  savages  had  begged  and 
robbed  the  members  of  their  subsistence,  and  how  they 
had  suffered  from  hunger.  I  had  made  up  my  mind  not 
to  be  caught  in  the  same  dreadful  situation,  and  believed 
myself  smart  enough  to  circumvent  the  Indians ;  but  the 
white  man  who  can  outwit  one  of  these  northern  tribes 
ought  to  pack  up  and  start  for  their  country  at  once.  He 
would  be  of  great  service  to  the  few  traders  there  who  at- 
tempt to  carry  on  a  legitimate  business ! 

These  miserable  creatures  would  make  all  kinds  of  ex- 
cuses and  promises ;  tell  what  great  people  the  whites 
were;  bring  tongues  of  the  caribou;  follow  us  around, 
and  declare  that  their  children  were  starving ;  that  their 
fathers  or  brothers  had  gone  to  Fort  Resolution  for  pro- 
visions ;  that  as  soon  as  they  returned  we  should  be  re- 
paid what  we  could  let  them  have.  One  man  wanted 
tobacco  so  badly  that  he  became  nearly  wild, —  caught 
Mr.  Rea  by  both  arms  and  plead  for  it  with  tears  in  his 
eyes.  Another  one  returned  after  bidding  us  good-bye, 
and  pretended  that  he  had  lost  a  piece  of  tobacco  on  the 
floor.  He  got  down  on  his  hands  and  knees  and  crept  all 
over  the  house,  pretending  that  he  was  looking  for  it. 
Then  he  commenced  to  bewail  his  fate.    We  spotted  all 


324 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


such  actions,  and  were  firm  in  denying  them  at  all  times. 
I  never  used  tobacco  in  any  form,  and  would  tell  them  it 
made  me  sick,  and  I  was  afraid  to  give  it  to  anyone  for 
fear  it  might  affect  them  in  the  same  way.  Mr.  Rea  had 
learned  a  good  deal  of  their  language,  and  I  soon  learned 
some  of  the  most  important  words;  so  that,  with  this 
knowledge,  aided  by  signs,  we  could  converse  with  them 
quite  freely.  The  best  interpreter  we  found  among  the 
Yellow  Knife  tribe  was  a  deaf  mute,  little  Emma,  a  girl 
about  twelve  years  old.  We  could  make  known  to  her 
almost  anything  by  signs;  she  would  then  convey  our 
wishes  to  her  family  in  her  own  peculiar  way.  When- 
ever we  could  not  make  ourselves  intelligible  to  the  In- 
dians congregated  in  our  cabin,  we  invariably  asked  for 
"  Emma  nachila  "  (Emma,  little).  Poor  child!  her  lot 
was  doubly  deplorable.  The  story  of  her  sufferings  would 
fill  a  volume.  One  day,  during  a  terrific  blizzard  from 
the  north,  I  bundled  up  and  went  to  the  lake  for  water; 
just  as  I  neared  the  bank,  the  child  stepped  up  with  a 
birch-bark  pail  full,  when  a  mighty  gust  of  wind  caught 
and  whirled  her  down  the  bank  on  the  lake.  The  water 
flew  all  over  her,  and  immediately  froze.  There  she 
stood,  with  her  arms  stretched  out,  head  bare,  without 
shoes  or  stockings,  with  only  a  loose  frock  made  of  cari- 
bou skins  to  cover  her  nakedness.  I  picked  up  the  pail, 
and  by  signs  told  her  I  would  get  the  water  and  carry  it 
to  the  top  of  the  bank.  She  uttered  a  peculiar  sound, 
and  bowed  in  thankfulness.  As  quickly  as  I  could,  I 
handed  her  the  pail  of  water,  and  she  went  swiftly  to  her 
father's  teepee.  The  most  provoking  thing  about  it  was, 
I  knew  her  father  and  two  full-grown  brothers  —  all  hale 
and  hearty  —  were  lounging  in  the  lodge  on  caribou  rugs, 
before  a  rousing  fire,  the  wood  for  which  had  been  chop- 
ped and  hauled  over  a  mile  by  an  elder  sister,  only  four- 
teen years  of  age,  an  ideal  Indian  lassie.  This  is  only 
one  illustration  of  the  ways  of  those  Indians  of  the 
North. 


CHILDREN  FRIGHTENED  AT  WHITE  MEN  325 

One  night  a  great  number  of  Indians  pitched  their 
teepees  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  our  cabin.  The 
next  morning  on  opening  our  door,  there  stood  not  less 
than  thirty  boys  and  girls  in  the  snow.  Most  of  them 
were  barefooted  and  bareheaded.  Their  ages  ranged  from 
seven  to  fifteen  years.  The  moment  they  caught  sight  of 
me,  all  turned  and  ran  toward  the  village  as  if  a  pack  of 
arctic  wolves  were  in  close  pursuit. 

It  must  be  remembered  this  was  the  first  white  man 
they  had  ever  seen,  and  having  heard  so  many  blood- 
curdling stories  about  the  dreaded  white  race,  no  wonder 
they  were  frightened  nearly  to  death.  At  last  one  of  the 
boys  ventured  to  look  back,  and  seeing  no  one  pursuing, 
stopped,  and  looked  as  wild  as  a  reindeer.  I  beckoned 
him  to  come  to  me;  he  took  a  few  steps,  and  then  halted, 
not  daring  to  venture  farther.  By  this  time  quite  a  num- 
ber had  stopped,  and  they  looked  at  me  with  the  wildest 
expression  I  ever  saw  on  mortals'  faces.  I  beckoned 
them  to  come  to  me,  but  they  stood  motionless,  except 
some  of  the  smaller  ones,  who  kept  right  on  until  they 
reached  the  wigwams,  where  they  no  doubt  crawled  under 
deer-skins  to  save  themselves  from  the  paleface. 

I  stepped  back  into  the  cabin,  took  two  handfuls  of 
sugar,  and  again  appeared  in  the  door,  where  I  held  out 
my  hands  toward  them.  They  had  not  the  slightest  idea 
of  the  taste  of  sugar,  although  they  had  often  eaten  salt, 
which  is  found  in  great  abundance  in  some  of  the  marshes 
of  that  region.  I  took  a  lump  in  my  mouth,  smacked  my 
lips,  and  said,  "  Nazou !  nazou!"  (GoodI  good!)  Finally, 
a  boy  of  about  thirteen  years  came  to  me  shyly,  and  held 
out  his  hand.  I  gave  him  a  lump.  After  putting  it  in 
his  mouth,  he  turned  to  the  others  with  the  most  comical 
expression.  At  last  he  managed  to  find  his  tongue,  and 
shouted,  "  Hoppy  shompooly!  hoppy  shompooly!  "  (  Salt 
sweet !  salt  sweet  f )  Then  I  was  kept  busy  supplying  the 
little  beggars  with  the  "  sweet  salt."  The  boys,  when  the 
supply  of  sweets  was  exhausted,  ran  to  the  woodpile,  and 


326 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


seizing  the  two  axes  which  were  lying  there,  began  to  chop 
wood  as  if  their  very  lives  depended  upon  it.  Perhaps 
they  were  looking  for  more  sugar  to  follow  this  extraordi- 
nary feat,  or  maybe  they  were  only  showing  their  appre- 
ciation of  the  treat,  but  we  were  kept  well  supplied  with 
wood  for  several  days.  Not  being  satisfied  with  their 
work,  however,  they  began  on  the  logs  of  the  cabin,  and  I 
was  compelled  to  send  them  on  their  homeward  journey, 
to  save  a  shelter  for  ourselves.  No  doubt  their  dreams 
that  night  were  of  the  "sweet  salt."  At  all  events,  my 
introduction  into  Indian  society  was  made. 

By  the  20th  of  October,  things  commenced  to  look 
gloomy.  The  last  cache1  had  been  invaded,  and  all  the 
meat  gone.  Still  more  Indians  kept  coming;  hundreds 
gathered  around  our  cabin,  all  pleading  for  a  mouthful  of 
something.  Several  of  them  were  sick;  one  nearly  dead 
with  the  consumption,  and  we  felt  obliged  to  give  him 
rations  from  our  scanty  store.  Had  it  not  been  for  Mr. 
Rea  they  certainly  would  h^ve  robbed  me  of  everything. 
His  experience  on  the  Mackenzie  river  was  of  great  value 
to  us.  He  handled  them  without  gloves;  at  least  they 
thought  so.  One  big  burly  savage  attempted  to  run  things 
his  own  way  by  kicking  whatever  came  in  his  path.  He 
having  one  day  kicked  over  a  bread-pan  just  to  see  it  tum- 
ble, that  was  the  last  kicking  he  ever  tried  with  us,  as  Mr. 
Rea  struck  him  such  a  swinging  blow  under  the  ear  that 
it  laid  him  apparently  lifeless  on  the  ground.  Mr.  Rea 
then  choked  him  until  his  eyes  bulged  out  like  peeled 
onions.  The  other  Indians  looked  on  with  amazement 
stamped  on  their  otherwise  stoical  countenances. 

A  few  days  afterward,  another  "smart  Aleck"  arrived 
at  our  camp,  and  brought  with  him  fifteen  or  twenty  more 
starving  redskins.    We  were  eating  dinner  when  they  all 

1  Cache,  a  place  for  concealing  or  storing  anything ;  as,  a  hole  in  the  ground  or  a 
cavity  under  a  heap  of  stones  ;  also,  provisions,  ammunition,  etc.,  stored  in  such  a 
place.  The  custom  of  "caching  "  provisions  is  a  common  one  by  travelers  in  the  far 
North,  to  provide  against  the  emergency  of  a  scarcity  of  game,  which  frequently 
occurs. 


IMPUDENT  INDIANS 


827 


unceremoniously  bolted  in,  and  the  moment  we  arose  from 
our  improvised  table  the  leader  walked  up  to  it  and  ex- 
claimed, "  Dennie  la  tea,  hula"  (Indian  tea,  none),  at 
the  same  instant  seizing  the  copper  bucket  containing  the 
coveted  liquid,  and  swilling  down  about  a  quart.  This 
was  insulting  in  the  extreme,  but  as  we  had  several  cad- 
dies of  the  article  it  was  of  little  consequence.  As  soon 
as  he  sat  the  bucket  down,  he  picked  up  a  pot  of  meat  at 
the  other  end  of  the  table,  thrust  his  dirty  hand  into  the 
soup,  and  drew  out  a  large  piece  of  meat.  This  he  held 
in  his  left  hand  and  caught  one  end  with  his  teeth ;  then 
picked  up  our  butcher-knife  and  cut  off  a  chunk  so  large  it 
would  scarcely  go  into  his  mouth,  and  began  devouring  it. 
This  was  taking  rather  too  much  liberty  for  me  to  tolerate, 
and  I  sprang  like  a  wildcat  at  his  throat,  wrenched  the 
savory  morsel  from  his  hand,  and  sent  him  headlong 
toward  the  door ;  then  quickly  made  my  way  to  the  cor- 
ner of  our  cabin  where  we  kept  our  supplies,  deposited 
the  pot  of  meat,  and  stood  between  the  eatables,  Win- 
chester in  hand,  until  the  Indians  were  gotten  rid  of. 
I  said  to  Mr.  Rea,  that  I  was  surprised  he  did  not  resent 
such  "  pure  cussedness."  He  laughed,  and  replied  he  was 
waiting  to  see  if  I  had  any  "  sand."  I  told  him  I  had  a 
little  left.  "  Then,"  said  he,  "  let 's  clean  them  out,"  and 
commenced  to  knock  them  right  and  left.  They  went  out 
like  a  flock  of  sheep,  except  three  that  lay  on  the  floor. 
Mr.  Rea  swung  them  out  by  the  heels.  We  were  very 
thankful  when  the  impudent  crowd  left,  as  they  were  next 
to  the  hardest  set  we  had  to  deal  with  v^hile  in  the  north- 
ern country. 

Mr.  Rea  was  frequently  absent  looking  after  his  traps. 
He  would  be  gone  for  hours,  sometimes  for  days.  On 
one  occasion  when  I  was  alone,  the  night  a  dark  and 
wretched  one,  suddenly  six  impudent  Indians  entered  the 
cabin  and  demanded  tea,  tobacco,  flour,  and  in  fact, 
"wanted  the  earth."  They  offered  nothing  in  exchange, 
and  I  promptly  refused  to  accede  to  their  demands,  ex- 


328 


FORTY  YEARS  OF  ADVENTURES 


cepting  for  water,  which  was  ever  at  their  service,  if  they 
would  help  themselves,  as  I  always  refused  to  wait  on 
them.  Finally  one  of  them  jumped  up  and  exclaimed, 
V  Con !  Con  !  "  (fire),  up<3n  which  five  of  them  rushed  out 
and  gathered  their  arms  full  of  chips  and  dry  sticks,  at 
our  woodpile,  one  of  the  number  returning  with  two 
pieces.  He  deliberately  helped  himself  to  a  brand  from 
my  fireplace,  and  with  it  he  darted  out  into  the  darkness. 
The  Indian  that  remained  inside  the  room  said,  "  Dennie 
mad!  "  I  stepped  to  the  door  and  saw  them  heaping  up 
chips  at  the  corner  of  the  cabin,  which  they  had  already 
ignited,  intending  to  burn  us  out. 

It  was  an  awful  night,  and  I  told  the  Indian  who  had 
talked  to  me  in  broken  English,  to  stop  them  and  we 
would  have  a  pow-wow,  and  perhaps  fix  it  up.  He  went 
to  the  door  and  spoke  to  them,  and  I  went  out  and  pulled 
the  fire  away  from  the  cabin,  when  they  all  returned  with 
me.  I  gave  them  two  plugs  of  tobacco  and  a  cup  of  tea 
each,  at  which  they  appeared  satisfied.  It  was  lucky  that 
Mr.  Rea  was  not  there,  or  trouble  would  surely  have  en- 
sued, and  of  such  a  character  that  the  breach  could  not 
have  been  easily  healed.  I  often  think  of  that  dreadful 
night  and  shudder,  yet  am  thankful  that  I  chose  the 
right  course  at  once.  After  that  raid  on  me  the  Indians 
attempted  to  force  us,  but  they  were  never  as  demonstra- 
tive again.  We  took  a  firm  stand  against  any  more  of 
their  foolishness,  by  knocking  them  down  and  dragging 
them  out  at  the  slightest  provocation.  We  gave  them  to 
understand  we  "  made  medicine  "  so  strong  we  could  hurl 
such  bolts  of  thunder  and  lightning  upon  their  heads  as 
would  annihilate  the  whole  tribe  at  one  blow. 

November  arrived  without  the  advent  of  a  single  cari- 
bou, and  the  Indians  were  in  a  starving  condition ;  very 
few  of  them  could  muster  half  a  meal.  All  left  the 
neighborhood  excepting  about  a  dozen  families.  No 
sooner  had  the  last  of  them  gotten  out  of  sight  than 
a  band  of  five  caribou  made  its  appearance  from  the 


ARRIVAL  OF  THE  CARIBOU 


329 


northwest,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  when  we  had 
really  been  expecting  them  from  the  northeast.  I  car- 
ried a  Winchester  rifle  of  forty  caliber,  using  eighty-two 
grains  of  powder.  The  Indians  had  small  single-barrel 
shotguns,  writh  balls.  They  made  things  lively  with  their 
email  weapons,  trying  to  secure  some  meat,  but  became 
so  excited  that  four  of  the  animals  passed  through  their 
lines  and  escaped.  The  remaining  one  was  a  monstrous 
bull,  that  threw  his  antlers  high  in  the  air  and  attempted 
to  go  around  them.  I  stepped  behind  a  clump  of  bushes, 
and  as  he  trotted  within  a  hundred  yards  of  where  I 
stood,  took  my  first  shot  at  a  caribou.1  The  ball  broke 
his  neck  close  to  the  shoulder,  and  he  dropped  dead.  The 
Indians  came  up  rejoicing,  while  I  took  a  back  seat. 
They  helped  themselves,  saying,  by  signs  and  their  own 
language,  "We  pay  you  back  when  we  kill  one!"  The 
next  morning  I  was  out  of  my  blankets  and  traveled  two 
miles  before  daybreak.  As  the  sun  rose,  a  herd  of  twenty- 
eight  caribou  appeared  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river, 
moving  eastwardly  to  where  I  had  secreted  myself  on  the 
trail  of  the  five  that  had  already  broken  a  path  the  day 
previously  through  the  snow  over  the  ice.  They  came 
within  two  hundred  yards  of  me,  then  turned  north- 
wardly, trying  to  ascend  the  bank  at  another  point, 
which  was  also  low.  I  opened  fire,  and  killed  the  leader 
at  the  first  shot.  I  pulled  the  trigger  eighteen  times,  but 
got  only  six  animals.    The  Indians  soon  came  over  by 

1  The  caribou  of  the  arctic  region  is  a  North-American  variety  of  the  reindeer,  and  is 
much  smaller  than  his  congener,  the  caribou  of  Maine.  It  has  never  been  domesti- 
cated. The  caribou  deer  in  America  have  to  contend  with  the  deep  snow  more  than  do 
the  reindeer  proper  of  the  old  continent ;  their  horns  are  broader,  and  better  adapted 
to  the  purpose.  Besides,  both  varieties,  in  addition  to  these  natural  shovels,  have 
broad  feet,  not  only  to  sustain  them  better  on  the  snow,  but  also  to  clear  it  away  ;  their 
legs  are  much  larger  than  are  those  of  the  common  deer  ;  their  hoofs  are  as  broad  and 
as  large  as  those  of  a  full-grown  ox.  A  full-grown  male  caribou  will  weigh,  when  in 
ordinary  flesh,  four  hundred  pounds,  while  the  common  American  deer  weighs  but  lit- 
tle over  half  that  amount ;  but  the  caribou  loses  much  more  in  dressing,  for  the  reason 
that  his  stomach  is  abnormally  large,  this  condition  arising  from  the  fact  that  his  princi- 
pal food  is  moss,  in  which  there  is  relatively  very  little  substance.  They  will  net  when 
dressed  about  one  hundred  and  eighty  pounds,  while  the  deer  will  net  very  near  the 
same  amount. 


330 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


the  dozen,  and  commenced  to  ridicule  me  for  not  killing 
more.  I  was  so  disgusted  with  myself  I  felt  like  break- 
ing my  gun  over  a  rotten  log.  All  the  time  Mr.  Rea  had 
been  standing  on  the  bank,  half  a  mile  distant,  witness- 
ing my  miserable  shooting,  and  was  as  much  provoked 
as  I.  A  fire  was  quickly  kindled,  and  the  Indians  soon 
had  all  six  of  the  heads  roasting  before  it,  without  stop- 
ping to  ask  my  permission.  I  picked  up  my  rifle  and 
walked  to  the  fire,  for  it  was  dreadfully  cold,  wThere  I 
commenced  to  make  a  close  inspection  of  the  weapon, 
and  discovered  that  the  raised  sight  which  I  alwrays  used 
had  been  lowered  three  notches ;  upon  which  I  laughed 
aloud,  and  exclaimed,  "  Nazzula!  "  (no  good  ),  and  then 
showed  the  Indians  and  Mr.  Rea  that  the  gun  had  not 
been  properly  sighted.  Some  one  had  misplaced  the 
sights,  and  I  had  fired  with  a  sight  three  notches  lower 
than  usual, — and  that  was  the  cause  of  my  missing. 

One  old  Indian  then  struck  himself  on  the  breast  and 
exclaimed,  "Dennie  nazzula!"  (Indian  no  good),  ad- 
mitting that  on  the  previous  day,  while  I  was  absent  at 
the  cabin  after  the  dogs  and  a  sled  to  haul  some  meat 
home,  he  had  placed  the  sights  down  to  where  he  thought 
was  the  correct  notch  for  them.  His  explanation  exon- 
erated me,  and  every  one  was  astonished  that  I  had  oven 
done  so  well.  They  had  been  pointing  at  me  and  exclaim- 
ing, "  Nazzula,"  (No  good) ;  now  they  exclaimed,  "  Nazu; 
molar  nachaw !"  (  Good  white  man  ;  big  ). 

The  next  day  I  killed  six  more  caribou,  out  of  what  we 
hoped  was  the  main  herd,  but  they  proved  to  be  but  a  few 
stragglers.  It  was  a  Godsend  that  thirteen  had  fallen  be- 
fore my  unerring  rifle, —  more  than  double  the  number 
that  had  been  secured  by  the  whole  band  of  Indians. 

Days  and  weeks  passed,  but  no  further  signs  of  the  cari- 
bou could  be  discovered.  We  had  eight  dogs  to  feed,  and 
all  the  Indians  remaining  with  us,  numbering  about  forty, 
with  wThom  we  would  shortly  be  compelled  to  divide,  to 
prevent  them  from  starving.    They  possessed  sixty-two 


INDIAN  INCANTATIONS 


331 


dogs,  so  that  if  they  fed  them,  the  few  caribou  they  had 
killed  would  furnish  them  only  two  days'  rations.  As 
long  as  an  Indian  has  anything  to  eat  he  never  stops  eat- 
ing, or  gives  any  thought  to  the  morrow.  Some  historians 
claim  the  Indians  have  no  particular  time  for  eating.  I 
say  they  have,  and  that  time  is  all  the  time,  if  anything 
to  eat  is  to  be  had.  As  we  had  anticipated,  they  com- 
menced to  come  to  our  cabin  the  second  day  after  the 
killing  of  the  last  caribou,  begging  for  meat.  They  plead 
most  piteously,  and  when  the  older  ones  failed  to  receive 
anything,  they  sent  their  children ;  and  when  they  too 
failed,  the  women  made  their  appearance.  When  they 
found  it  was  of  no  use  to  beg,  they  tried  to  buy,  offering 
their  garments  and  a  few  furs  they  had  secured.  But  we 
never  sold  any  meat;  if  we  allowed  it  to  go  at  all,  it  went 
freely,  without  money  and  without  price. 

On  Saturday,  the  9th  of  November,  the  Indians  congre- 
gated in  one  wigwam ;  and  of  all  the  wailing,  screech- 
ing, shouting,  lamentation,  and  chanting,  it  was  far  in 
excess  of  what  I  had  ever  heard.  We  knew  very  well  what 
it  meant:  they  were  conjuring  the  return  of  the  caribou. 
They  continued  their  incantations  into  the  night ;  and  the 
next  morning,  Sunday,  it  was  intensified  by  the  addition 
of  tom-toms1,  pans,  kettles,  and  all  manner  of  such  dis- 
cordant instruments,  during  the  entire  day.  Just  as  the 
sun  was  about  sinking  into  the  great  lake,  which  was  only 
partially  frozen  over  ( the  center  remaining  open  until 
December),  while  I  was  swinging  my  axe  preparing  kind- 
lings for  the  next  morning's  fire,  my  eyes  caught  sight  of 
a  dozen  caribou  crossing  the  bay,  fully  a  mile  away,  going 
in  an  angling  direction  from  me.  I  darted  into  the  cabin, 
snatched  my  rifle  from  the  rack,  and  was  soon  rushing 
over  the  ice  (which  was  quite  smooth)  toward  the  leader 
of  the  herd.  The  animals  would  trot  a  little,  then  stop, 
and  look  in  every  direction.    While  they  moved,  I  ran  as 

1 A  peculiar  kind  of  drum,  constructed  of  wood,  covered  with  rawhide  made  from 
reindeer  skins. 


332 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


rapidly  as  possible  toward  them;  when  they  stopped,  I 
stopped  too,  in  a  crouching  position.  Seeing  me  in  plain 
view,  they  gazed  for  five  or  six  minutes  at  a  time,  to  see 
if  I  moved.  When  no  motion  was  observed  by  them,  they 
appeared  satisfied  there  was  no  danger,  believing  me,  no 
doubt,  to  be  a  stump,  or  a  clump  of  spruce  bushes;  then 
would  again  move  cautiously  over  the  ice.  When  they 
stopped,  I  stopped;  when  they  started  again,  I  moved 
swiftly  on  until  I  had  gotten  within  three  hundred  yards 
of  them:  then  turned  my  battery  loose.  Four  large  ani- 
mals fell,  and  several  others  were  badly  wounded.  I  had 
not  taken  the  precaution  to  get  my  belt  of  cartridges  when 
starting  from  the  cabin,  and  was  therefore  compelled  to 
content  myself  with  four,  as  the  magazine  of  my  rifle 
contained  only  eight  loads.  Besides,  I  was  obliged,  on 
account  of  the  position  of  the  herd,  to  shoot  directly  to- 
ward the  setting  sun ;  so  it  was  more  from  luck  than  by 
science  that  I  secured  as  many  as  I  did. 

When  the  smoke  from  my  rifle  had  cleared  away,  I 
looked  over  the  lake  toward  the  wigwam,  and  tcrmy  dis- 
may saw  all  the  Indian  women  and  starving  dogs  on  a 
rapid  run  for  the  caribou  which  I  had  killed.  I  rushed  in 
the  opposite  direction  from  the  dead  carcasses,  and  drew 
the  attention  of  the  dogs  from  the  meat,  starting  them 
for  the  living  cariboy.  across  the  bay,  as  there  would  not 
have  been  a  pound  of  meat  left  had  they  discovered  the 
dead  animals.  But  the  poor  canines  were  so  miserably 
thin  and  weak  they  could  not  have  caught  one  with  two 
of  its  legs  shot  off ! 

I  could  not  fool  the  squaws  as  I  had  the  dogs,  and  they, 
armed  with  butcher-knives,  incontinently  scrambled  for 
the  heads  and  limbs  while  I  was  slashing  out  the  viscera. 
They  had  brought  with  them  some  birch-bark  buckets, 
and  scooping  up  the  blood,  poured  it  into  the  buckets  and 
appeared  very  grateful  to  me  for  allowing  them  to  get  it. 
They  very  carefully  saved  all  of  the  offal  excepting  what 
they  themselves  devoured  raw  on  the  spot. 


HABITS  OF  REINDEER 


333 


The  men  were  not  so  grateful.  They  really  believed 
they  had  brought  the  caribou  by  their  heathenish  incan- 
tations and  prayers  to  the  Great  Spirit,  and  gave  me  to 
understand  by  signs  and  words  that  they  were  entitled  to 
the  lion's  share  on  that  account.  But  it  did  not  convince 
me,  and  they  got  nothing. 

The  old  men  regarded  me  with  amazement,  and  were 
emphatic  in  their  praise  for  a  man  that  could  walk  up  to 
a  caribou  on  the  ice  and  shoot  him  down  in  such  an  easy 
manner.  They  really  believed  I  could  command  the  ani- 
mals to  stand  still  and  they  would  obey.  We  took  advantage 
of  their  superstition  whenever  possible.  They  imagine 
themselves  great  hunters,  yet  never  have  learned  the  art 
of  stalking  in  an  open  field ;  they  are  cunning  and  crafty 
in  the  forest  and  brush,  among  the  hills  and  large  rocks, 
but  of  little  account  where  there  is  nothing  behind  which 
to  secrete  themselves. 

When  we  study  the  habits  of  these  reindeer, —  how  they 
always  avoid  the  forest  and  hills  by  traveling  on  the  ice 
and  level  plains,  in  order  to  avoid  dangers  from  Indians 
and  wolves  that  attack  them  in  such  favorable  places,  it 
is  not  surprising,  in  reading  the  history  of  Franklin's  first 
expedition  to  the  Barren  Lands,  to  learn  that  the  party 
saw  plenty  of  reindeer  on  the  lakes  and  level  plains,  but 
could  not  approach  near  enough  to  shoot  them ;  and  that 
all  of  that  heroic  band  perished  excepting  four  or  five. 
Had  there  been  a  "killer,"  as  well  as  a  hunter  or  a  mili- 
tary captain  or  lieutenant,  the  whole  party  would  have 
returned  safe  and  sound. 

We  plainly  perceived  that  many  of  the  women  and 
children  would  perish  from  hunger,  unless  we  denied  our 
dogs,  and  divided  what  we  had  with  them.  We  gave  a 
little  from  time  to  time,  but  found  it  was  apportioned  to 
those  who  really  needed  it  least.  We  therefore  had  to 
compel  each  family  to  send  over  one  person  each  evening, 
to  whom  we  gave  just  enough  to  keep  them  alive  and  able 
to  move  around. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


ARRANGING  FOR  A  MUSK-OX  HUNT  —  MR.  REA  AND  TWO  IN- 
DIANS MAKE  THE  JOURNEY  —  CAUGHT  IN  A  BLIZZARD  — 
GRAPHIC  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  GREATEST  WATERFALLS  OF 
THE  FAR  NORTH  SECOND  NIAGARA  BANDS  OF  REIN- 
DEER EVERYWHERE  —  DRIVING  THEM  INTO  A  CORRAL  — 
INDIANS  DETERMINED  TO  STAY  AND  EAT  WHITE  MAN'S 
MEAT  NOTHING  COULD  DRIVE  THEM  AWAY. 


THE  date  we  had  determined  upon,  early  in  the  fall, 
to  leave  on  a  winter  musk-ox  hunt,  was  the  16th 
of  November.  All  the  Indians  in  our  vicinity  who 
had  learned  of  our  presence  and  intentions  were 
anxiously  waiting  for  the  time  to  arrive,  as  they  always 
regard  an  event  of  that  character  as  a  "  red-letter  "  day  in 
their  calendar.  As  the  auspicious  moment  draws  near 
they  become  as  fidgety  as  a  sixteen -year-old  maiden  when 
she  is  to  take  the  initial  excursion  with  her  first  beau. 
Everything  is  hurry  and  bustle :  the  men  making  sleds 
and  snowshoes,  collecting  meat  and  fish,  and  running 
races  to  harden  their  muscles, —  for  they  are  well  aware 
that  if  they  fall  by  the  wayside  they  must  return  from  the 
hunt  in  disgrace.  So  everyone  nerves  himself  to  meet  the 
responsibility  of  such  occasions,  and  if  possible,  to  "put 
the  other  fellow  in  the  hole."  The  women,  too,  are  not 
by  any  means  idle :  their  fate  is  continual  labor,  and  now 
they  are  doubly  subjected  to  the  yoke  of  their  masters. 
Tanning  skins,  making  moccasins,  mittens,  chopping  and 
hauling  wood,  besides  everything  else  in  the  nature  of  la- 
bor, falls  to  their  lot,  excepting  the  manufacture  of  sleds 

(  334) 


ARRANGING  FOR  A  MUSK-OX  HUNT 


335 


and  of  the  frames  for  snowshoes.  During  the  limited 
amount  of  daylight  in  that  remote  region,  their  home, 
they  are  continually  at  work  getting  a  supply  of  wood  for 
the  long  nights  that  follow.  In  the  prolonged  darkness 
they  are  busy  with  needles,  using  the  sinews  of  caribou 
for  thread,  lacing  snowshoes,  trimming  the  carryalls,  and 
performing  anything  else  that  is  beneath  the  dignity  of  a 
male  Indian. 

The  term  "  carryall,"  as  high-sounding  as  it  may  ap- 
pear to  some,  is  nothing  more  than  a  box  made  of  dressed 
deer-skins,  the  framework  of  which  is  wood,  placed  upon 
a  runner,  which  is  simply  a  single  birch  board  about 
twelve  inches  wide,  hewn  out  with  an  ax  and  butcher- 
knife,  and  curved  in  front  in  the  similitude  of  a  toboggan. 
The  narrowness  of  the  sled  (one  foot  in  width)  is  necessi- 
tated by  the  fact  that  it  is  to  follow  in  the  tracks  of  snow- 
shoes,  and  pass  through  thick  timber  and  brush. 

Frequently  bands  of  Indians  would  visit  our  cabin  to 
trade  musk-ox  hides  and  other  furs  for  tea,  tobacco,  am- 
munition and  other  goods  ;  at  other  times  they  demanded 
credit,  saying  they  were  sure  to  kill  great  loads  of  ani- 
mals, with  whose  furs  they  would  repay.  They  declared 
they  had  fourteen  sledges  to  go  on  the  proposed  hunt  for 
musk-oxen,  which  would  be  sufficient  transportation  for 
one  hundred  and  forty  skins.  We  had  no  goods  to  part 
with  on  such  an  uncertain  tenure.  That  we  were  correct 
in  our  estimation  of  their  truthfulness,  was  verified 
shortly  after,  as  will  be  seen. 

When  the  Indians  were  convinced  that  we  had  no  idea 
of  letting  goods  go  or  parting  with  our  flour  and  other 
eatables,  at  any  price,  they  ceased  troubling  us,  most  of 
them  taking  to  the  lakes  with  nets ;  others  with  guns 
pulled  out  for  the  northeast,  hoping  to  meet  the  caribou 
coming  south.  On  these  expeditions  the  women  and 
children  always  accompanied  them.  The  last  band,  just 
referred  to,  returned  in  about  two  weeks,  in  a  starving 
condition.    They  then  started  for  a  point  forty  miles 


336 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


south  on  the  lake,  where  it  was  reported  an  abundance  of 
whitefish  were  being  caught  with  nets  under  the  ice ;  and 
that  was  the  last  we  saw  of  them  until  the  following 
spring. 

When  the  16th  of  November  arrived,  we  were  ready  with 
ten  days'  supply  of  dried  meat  in  our  carryall,  expecting 
at  least  four  more  sleds  to  be  on  hand.  The  Indians  con- 
gregated at  our  cabin  early  in  the  morning  to  witness  the 
start.  To  our  disgust,  there  was  but  one  sled  and  two 
men  in  readiness  to  go,  and  they  had  managed  to  procure 
but  four  days'  rations  for  themselves  and  their  dogs ;  and 
even  then  robbed  their  women  and  children  of  what  little 
there  was  in  store,  intending  to  trust  them  to  our  gen- 
erosity, knowing  they  would  not  starve  during  their  ab- 
sence. We  promised  to  divide  our  meat  with  them,  and 
furnish  tea.  A  promise  was  also  exacted  from  us  that  we 
would  not  attempt  to  take  any  musk-oxen  alive ;  we  were 
also  to  furnish  the  men  with  ammunition  and  tea.  If  the 
Indians  had  had  the  least  idea  of  our  real  intentions  re- 
garding the  capture  of  live  animals,  they  never  would 
have  consented  to  move  a  step  in  the  direction  of  the 
haunts  of  the  musk-oxen,  as  they  look  upon  them  as 
sacred. 

It  was  very  evident  to  Mr.  Rea  and  myself,  that  if  we 
both  left  our  cabin  while  the  Indians  were  in  such  straits 
for  food,  there  would  not  be  a  pound  of  anything  eata- 
ble left  on  our  return.  Each  wanted  to  go  badly,  but  it 
was  simply  impossible  under  such  circumstances ;  so  we 
adopted  the  old  Biblical  custom  of  casting  lots  to  see 
which  should  go  and  which  should  remain  to  guard  our 
property,  and  to  kill  and  store  meat  for  future  use.  It 
was  my  luck  to  have  to  stay  behind,  for  which  I  had  no 
taste ;  but  there  was  no  alternative. 

At  nine  o'clock  Mr.  Rea  with  a  train  of  two  dog-sleds  — 
four  dogs  to  each  sled  —  and  two  shepherd  dogs  and  the 
two  Indians  started  on  a  long,  wearisome  tramp  after  the 
most  remote  northern  herbivorous  animal,  the  musk-ox. 


WONDERFUL  CATARACT 


There  were  already  eight  inches  of  snow,  and  more  ex- 
pected daily.  Snowshoes  were  an  absolute  necessity  from 
the  beginning  to  the  end  of  their  journey.  The  elder  In- 
dian was  an  old-time  hunter  about  sixty-six  years  of  age, 
while  the  other,  his  son,  was  a  mere  lad  of  not  over 
twenty-two  snows,  and  hale  and  robust  as  can  be  imag- 
ined. It  was  the  latter's  duty  to  do  the  "tripping"; 
that  is,  to  go  on  ahead  of  the  sleds  and  break  a  road  for  the 
dogs.  If  any  of  my  readers  believes  that  he  can  outwalk 
an  Indian  on  snowshoes,  let  him  challenge  La  Pierre,  jr., 
the  champion  of  the  Yellow  Knife  tribe. 
Mr.  Rea  in  his  itinerary  says: 

"  Our  course  the  first  day  was  northeast,  and  we  camped 
four  miles  from  the  south  end  of  Artillery  lake,  near  the 
river  that  drains  it  into  Great  Slave  lake.  I  slept  but  a 
few  moments  that  night,  as  we  were  near  one  of  the  most 
wonderful  waterfalls  on  the  continent,  excepting  Niagara. 
The  roar  of  the  great  sheet  of  water  can  be  heard  for  forty 
miles,  and  in  winter  the  vapor  rising  from  it  can  be  seen 
at  an  immense  distance.  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the 
origin  of  the  name,  'Artillery '  lake,  is  because  of  the  col- 
umn of  mist  seen  rising  from  it  as  the  lake  is  approached, 
and  the  dreadful  roar  of  the  fall,  which  sounds  like  a 
battery  of  artillery  in  action, —  the  vapor  adding  to  the 
illusion. 

"Many  carcasses  of  caribou,  bear,  wolves  and  other 
animals  are  annually  carried  by  the  rapids  to  the  falls, 
over  which  they  are  tumbled,  to  be  dashed  to  pieces  at 
their  base. 

"The  neck  of  Artillery  lake  is  quite  narrow  immedi- 
ately above  the  falls,  and  its  very  narrowness  is  an  in- 
ducement for  wild  beasts  to  cross  at  that  point,  after 
wandering  fruitlessly  elsewhere  along  the  rugged  and  pre- 
cipitous margin  for  some  suitable  crossing-place.  The 
water  is  extremely  smooth  at  this  place,  but  very  rapid, 
and  once  in  its  clutches  the  victim  is  doomed  to  certain 
—  22 


338 


FORTY  YEARS  OF  ADVENTURES 


death,  for  the  distance  in  perpendicular  height  is  about 
two  hundred  feet,  and  the  water  in  its  terrible  descent 
strikes  a  series  of  pointed  and  jagged  rocks,  making  death 
inevitable  to  whatever  living  thing  goes  over  the  cataract. 

''Before  the  water  was  frozen,  our  dogs  had  plenty  of 
food  in  the  shape  of  the  carcasses  of  caribou  and  bear  that 
had  met  their  doom  at  the  falls,  as  at  this  point  the  vol- 
ume of  water  emptying  into  the  Great  Slave  lake  forms 
an  eddy  which  casts  all  the  victims  onto  the  shore. 

"As  I  have  stated,  I  caught  but  a  few  winks  of  sleep; 
so  roused  my  traveling  companions  long  before  the  first 
indications  of  the  coming  day,  and  by  the  time  the  sun 
was  visible  above  the  horizon  we  were  fully  ten  miles  on 
our  journey.  Our  trail  on  the  ice  of  Artillery  lake  was 
almost  directly  northeast.  Here  we  discovered  the  first 
indications  of  the  presence  of  game.  A  few  tracks  of 
caribou  showed  that  the  vanguard  and  leaders  of  the  win- 
ter migration  of  these  strange  animals  had  already  passed 
westward.  We  halted  on  the  west  bank  of  the  lake,  kin- 
dled a  fire,  and  took  a  second  breakfast.  As  soon  as  it 
was  sufficiently  light  to  distinguish  objects  at  any  dis- 
tance, we  discovered  caribou  on  every  hill  and  in  all  direc- 
tions. It  appeared  as  if  the  whole  face  of  the  earth  were 
alive  and  moving.  We  killed  five,  enough  to  supply  our 
immediate  wants;  three  of  which  we  cached,  so  as  to  be 
certain  of  meat  on  our  return  trip.  After  that  duty  was 
performed  we  proceeded  on  our  journey,  our  hopes  re- 
newed, and  with  freshly  inspired  vigor.  Young  Pierre 
swung  off  in  the  lead  as  tripper,  at  a  '  two-sixty-five ' 
gait.  When  we  halted  for  dinner  I  was  wet  with  perspi- 
ration, and  long  before  night  it  appeared  to  me  that  every 
step  was  the  last  I  could  possibly  make ;  but  I  was  too 
ambitious  to  acknowledge  the  fact,  so  it  was  my  courage 
that  kept  me  up  rather  than  my  muscles. 

"At  last  we  made  camp  on  the  west  shore  in  a  clump  of 
good-sized  spruce  saplings,  affording  us  an  abundance  of 
fuel  of  excellent  quality.    We  had  been  among  caribou 


CAUGHT  IN  A  BLIZZARD 


339 


all  day,  and  the  next  morning  we  traveled  more  slowly, 
killing  and  caching  our  meat.  The  fifth  day  out  we  were 
to  leave  the  lake  and  take  a  northwestwardly  course  to 
the  shore  of  Clinton  Golden  lake,  where  we  expected  to 
find  the  musk-oxen. 

"When  we  awoke  in  the  morning  a  fearful  gale  was 
blowing  from  the  southwest,  with  snow  coming  down  rap- 
idly. We  had  a  regular  wigwam  in  which  to  shelter  our- 
selves, but  had  passed  the  '  land  of  little  sticks,' 1  and  all 
the  material  we  had  to  burn  was  roots  which  stood  high 
above  the  surface  of  the  ground,  from  which  mighty  winds 
had  blown  away  the  sand  and  snow.  Here  we  were  abso- 
lutely imprisoned  for  four  days  and  nights  by  the  violence 
of  the  storm.  Fortunately,  we  had  loaded  our  sleds  with 
wood  to  serve  us  further  on  our  journey.  To  burn  it  now, 
meant  a  day's  travel  on  the  back  track  for  more;  so  we 
put  in  all  the  little  daylight  we  had  in  gathering  the  roots 
mentioned,  managing  by  hard  work  to  get  enough  to  cook 
our  meat  and  dry  our  wet  clothes.  The  other  twenty-five 
hours  of  the  wearisome  night  we  passed  rolled  up  in  our 
blankets. 

' '  We  expected  to  be  back  at  our  starting-place  in  ten 
days,  consequently  provided  ourselves  with  only  sufficient 
bread  for  that  period,  but  before  we  broke  camp  the  last 
biscuit  had  vanished.  It  was  two  days'  more  of  weary 
travel  to  Clinton  Golden  lake,  then  the  long  journey 
home, —  all  of  which  must  be  endured  with  only  meat  for 
our  entire  diet.  True,  we  had  an  abundance  of  tea,  and  a 
combination  of  these  two  articles  must  suffice  for  every 
meal  during  thirteen  days'  travel ! 

"  Our  two  days'  journey  overland  was  through  a  region 
quite  level,  a  vast  expanse  of  moss-covered  granite  with  a 
little  dead  grass,  appearing  like  an  immense  pasture  tinged 
with  the  holocaust  of  autumn,  which  must  be  a  para- 

1  Land  of  little  sticks,  the  most  northern  region  where  wood  can  be  obtained. 
Here  the  trees  are  so  whipped  and  twisted  by  the  wind  from  off  the  Barren  Lands 
that  they  only  attain  a  height  of  from  three  to  ten  feet.  Thus,  all  Indians  know  this 
country  as  the  "land  of  little  sticks." 


340 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


dise  in  summer  for  vast  herds  of  caribou  and  musk-oxen. 
The  hills  were  relatively  barren/ whose  principal  carpet- 
ing was  broken  granite,  their  surface  in  turn  covered 
by  moss.  In  winter  when  the  wind  whirls  the  snow  from 
these  elevated  places  to  the  valleys  and  it  lodges  there,  and 
in  the  gorges,  the  caribou  and  musk-ox  live  on  the  mosses 
of  the  bare  hills. 

' '  On  the  second  morning  out  from  the  lake  we  came 
upon  an  old  musk-ox  bull's  track,  so  recently  made  that 
our  loose  shepherd  dogs  became  terribly  excited  and  took 
up  his  trail,  which  we  also  followed  for  some  distance.  If 
we  had  killed  him  and  two  more,  it  would  have  made 
three,  as  the  boy  answered  who  was  fishing  one  day,  ac- 
cording to  the  ancient  story.  The  trail  of  the  huge  fel- 
low soon  became  obliterated  by  the  drifting  snow,  and 
that  was  the  nearest  we  came  to  killing  the  game  we  were 
after, —  and  it  took  twenty-three  days  of  our  precious 
time  to  do  even  that  ! 

"  The  weather  continued  so  stormy  that  there  was  little 
daylight ;  in  fact,  it  was  only  twilight,  and  the  winter  was 
asserting  its  potency  very  rapidly.  We  turned  southwest, 
making  a  great  detour  in  returning  to  our  last  camp  on 
Artillery  lake,  where  we  had  several  caches  in  which  were 
stored  our  caribou,  needed  so  badly,  for  our  dogs  had  been 
living  on  half -rations  several  days,  and  began  to  show  the 
effects  of  it  in  a  most  deplorable  manner. 

"We  arrived  at  the  cache  late  at  night,  and  when  we 
opened  it  discovered  to  our  sorrow  that  the  wolverines  had 
anticipated  us  and  devoured  the  last  scrap  deposited  there ! 
We  raked  the  bottoms  of  our  carryalls,  and  were  rewarded 
by  finding  a  few  pieces  of  dried  meat,  which  were  divided 
between  ourselves ;  but  the  poor  dogs  were  in  the  same  fix 
as  the  traditional  Mother  Hubbard's, —  'had  none.'  We 
had  two  more  caches  farther  down  the  shore,  which  we 
could  reach  by  hard  traveling  the  next  night. 

"When  morning  came  the  first  thing  we  saw  after  get- 
ting out  of  our  blankets  was  a  small  herd  of  caribou. 


RETURN  OF  THE  HUNTERS 


341 


Young  Pierre  took  my  rifle  and  managed  to  shoot  all  the 
cartridges  in  the  magazine,  which  contained  eight,  and 
succeeded  in  killing  seven.  Two  would  have  been  an 
abundance,  but  when  an  Indian  sees  game  and  has  plenty 
of  ammunition,  he  never  stops  shooting  until  it  is  ex- 
hausted. 

"We  selected  two  very  fat  young  animals,  and  all  of 
us,  including  our  hungry  dogs,  had  a  great  feast.  We  car- 
ried but  little  of  the  meat  away,  trusting  to  the  supply 
in  our  caches  ahead,  which  we  had  taken  greater  pains 
with  in  constructing,  building  them  of  green  poles,  which 
were  frozen  so  hard  that  the  most  voracious  wolverine  with 
his  remarkably  keen  teeth  and  powerful  jaws  could  not 
gnaw  them  away,  as  we  flattered  ourselves.  When  we  ar- 
rived where  they  were  located,  to  our  infinite  surprise  and 
chagrin  both  had  been  robbed  by  those  ghouls  of  the  Bar- 
ren Lands,  the  irrepressible  wolverines  ! 

"We  fortunately  killed  a  caribou  now  and  then.  Fi- 
nally, on  the  night  of  the  twenty-third  day  out,  we  ar- 
rived at  our  starting-place,  Port  Reliance,  where  I  found 
Mr.  Jones  seated  before  a  blazing  fire  in  the  comfortable 
cabin,  and  twenty-five  caribou  carcasses  and  half  a  hun- 
dred exceptionally  large  whitefish  stowed  away  in  our 
larder,  the  roof  of  the  building.  He  also  had  plenty  of 
biscuits  baked,  and  a  large  pot  of  beans  smoking  hot, 
over  the  fire.  What  joy  and  real  comfort  all  this  af- 
forded me,  I  leave  to  the  imagination  of  the  reader,  who 
will  kindly  put  himself  in  my  place  on  that  midwinter 
night  in  the  arctic  darkness." 

The  fourth  day  after  Mr.  Rea  left,  on  the  20th  of  No- 
vember, my  last  pound  of  meat  was  exhausted,  excepting 
what  was  in  the  pot  for  myself.  The  next  morning  the 
thermometer  indicated  thirty-six  degrees  below,  and  mat- 
ters looked  gloomy  enough.  Just  as  I  was  in  the  act  of 
tying  on  my  moccasins  to  start  in  search  of  something  to 
kill,  all  the  Indians  in  camp  came  bursting  in  at  the 


342 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


door,  crying,  " Jones!  Jones!  aton!  aton!"  (caribou). 
I  grabbed  my  rifle,  and  before  I  arrived  at  the  shore  of 
the  lake  a  hundred  yards  distant  I  saw  a  herd  of  about 
twenty-five  animals  running  for  the  opposite  side  of  the 
bay,  with  twenty  starving  dogs  after  them,  and  had  not 
one-half  of  their  pack  already  perished  from  hunger,  the 
same  additional  number  would  have  been  on  their  trail. 
I  turned  back  into  the  cabin,  the  Indians  beseeching  me 
to  follow,  but  I  was  too  experienced  a  hunter  to  run  on  a 
cold  trail.  To  me  it  was  a  "cold  day,"  and  it  would 
have  surely  been  a  cold  trail.  I  sauntered  leisurely  up 
the  river,  and  found  the  caribou  had  been  crossing  by  the 
hundreds.  I  luckily  killed  two  fine  bucks,  and  the  Indians 
were  saved  from  starvation,  as  I  gave  one  to  the  squaws 
for  dressing  the  other.  The  animals  had  made  their  ap- 
pearance, sure  enough,  though  about  a  month  later  than 
usual. 

That  day  one  of  the  largest  bands  of  caribou  of  the 
season  made  its  appearance  on  the  ice,  near  where  we  had 
previously  constructed  a  corral.1 

I  saw  a  fine  opportunity  to  bag  the  whole  herd,  by  turn- 
ing them  on  the  trail  leading  up  to  the  corral.  There  was 
an  Indian  hunting  with  me  that  day,  who  was  stationed 
at  the  only  other  point  where  the  animals  could  ascend, 
while  I  was  far  out  on  the  ice  in  their  rear,  driving  them 
in  the  direction  I  desired  them  to  go.  I  motioned  for  the 
Indian  to  come  out  from  his  hiding-place  and  show  him- 
self, so  as  to  turn  the  caribou  on  the  trail  to  the  corral ; 
in  fact,  I  had  told  him  before  if  the  opportunity  occurred, 

1  The  corral  was  built  of  poles,  in  the  style  of  an  old  Virginia  worm  fence,  about 
eight  feet  high,  with  a  capacity  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  animals.  The  gate  of  the 
corral  was  constructed  after  the  manner  of  a  wire  rat-trap,  and  when  the  animals  once 
entered  they  could  not  return.  The  corral  stood  back  from  the  margin  of  the  bay  about 
a  hundred  yards,  and  from  each  side  of  the  gate  a  flaring  wing  fence  extended  from  the 
corral  down  to  the  bay,  at  an  angle  of  about  twenty  degrees,  forming  a  lane  leading  from 
the  ice  to  the  entrance.  There  were  only  two  places  where  the  caribou  could  ascend  the 
bank,  and  the  wings  encompassed  one  of  them.  When  the  animals  left  the  ice  for  the 
high  land,  some  one  was  always  secreted  on  their  leeward  side,  and  the  moment  they 
entered  the  wing  all  he  had  to  do  was  to  jump  out  behind  them,  give  a  yell,  and  they 
went  pell-mell  into  the  trap. 


: 


LAYING  IN  SUPPLIES  FOR  WINTER 


343 


to  do  exactly  what  I  was  signaling  for,  but  he  was  so  anx- 
ious to  get  meat  he  refused  to  obey,  and  the  caribou  rushed 
past  him  so  close  that  he  could  have  touched  some  of 
them  with  the  muzzle  of  his  shotgun.  The  fool  of  a  sav- 
age fired  both  barrels  of  my  shotgun  loaded  with  buck- 
shot, without  touching  one  of  the  herd,  which  I  discovered 
by  inspecting  its  trail  afterward ;  there  was  not  the  slight- 
est semblance  of  blood  on  the  snow.  Through  his  excite- 
ment the  chance  for  procuring  enough  meat  to  last  us  and 
the  Indians  all  winter  was  lost,  and  did  not  occur  again 
that  season,  though  Mr.  Rea  and  myself  afterward  suc- 
ceeded in  capturing  a  few  in  the  corral. 

They  continued  to  pass  in  small  bands  for  two  or  three 
days,  and  when  the  slaughter  was  ended  I  had  piled  up  on 
our  cabin  twenty-five  choice  carcasses  of  the  reindeer.  The 
Indians  managed  altogether  to  kill  nearly  the  same  num- 
ber, and  I  had  a  little  rest  from  their  constant  impor- 
tunities for  meat, —  aggregating  only  about  ten  days, 
unfortunately. 

Mr.  Rea  was  unluckily  absent  during  the  hunt,  or  we 
would  have  secured  as  many  more.  He  was  out  prospect- 
ing for  musk-oxen  on  the  shores  of  Artillery  and  Clinton 
Golden  lakes. 

During  Mr.  Rea's  absence  one  of  the  Indians  to  whom 
we  had  rented  a  net  came  sixty  miles,  bringing  us  sixty- 
two  whitefish  as  our  portion  of  payment  out  of  his  catch. 
These,  together  with  the  twenty-five  caribou,  were  to  con- 
stitute our  winter's  supply  of  meat,  as  there  would  be  no 
opportunity  of  obtaining  more  until  the  middle  of  March, 
at  which  time  the  female  caribou  pass  on  their  way  to  the 
shore  of  the  Arctic  ocean  to  rear  their  young. 

The  Indians  commenced  to  again  beg  for  our  supplies, 
until  we  plainly  told  them,  "  No  more  !  "  They  stayed  un- 
til the  last  morsel  of  offal  was  gone,  and  I  actually  saw 
children  eating  the  frozen  contents  of  the  paunches  and 
intestines !    They  might  have  done  this  simply  to  excite 


844 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


my  sympathies,  but  it  only  resulted  in  intense  disgust  on 
my  part. 

On  the  17th  of  December  the  last  wigwam  was  lowered 
and  the  occupants  were  strung  out  for  a  mile  or  more, 
wending  their  emaciated  forms  toward  the  setting  sun 
(which  had  only  peeped  through  the  hills  in  the  south). 
I  was  across  the  bay  opposite  our  cabin,  cutting  wood. 
On  seeing  the  long  line  of  march,  I  was  so  rejoiced  I  could 
not  cut  another  stick,  but  put  on  my  coat  and  started  for 
the  cabin  to  have  a  general  time  of  congratulation  with 
my  partner,  Mr.  Rea.  But  on  arriving  there,  I  was  terri- 
bly disappointed,  and  all  my  feelings  of  relief  were  turned 
to  anger.  They  had  not  all  gone !  In  the  center  of  the 
cabin  sat  a  squaw  and  her  child,  a  little  girl  about  seven 
years  old,  that  I  at  one  time  had  saved  from  a  lingering 
death  by  the  administration  of  the  proper  medicine  at  the 
right  moment.  She  had  been  caught  in  a  burning  wig- 
wam and  her  greasy  clothes  were  nearly  consumed  on  her. 
Had  she  been  a  white  child  there  would  have  been  no  hope 
of  cure,  but  an  Indian  can  submit  to  almost  anything. 
I  asked  Mr.  Rea  what  their  presence  there  meant.  His  re- 
ply was,  "  I  do  not  know."  The  squaw  was  a  widow,  and 
her  dogs  had  starved  to  death,  excepting  one,  and  it  could 
scarcely  stand  alone.  I  opened  the  door  and  told  her, 
"  Towtee !  "  (be  gone).  I  exclaimed  several  times  in  such 
an  emphatic  manner  that  she  knew  what  I  meant.  She 
laid  her  head  on  her  hand  once,  and  motioned  that  she 
would  go.  That  meant  one  sleep,  and  then  she  intended 
to  leave.  We  sent  them  to  our  teepee  that  we  had  pitched 
to  shelter  our  dogs.  The  next  day  I  again  ordered  her  to 
go ;  she  made  signs  indicating  that  after  five  sleeps  the  In- 
dians would  return  for  her.  I  knew  she  was  lying  to  me, 
and  told  her  so  in  the  best  signs  and  language  I  could 
command.  There  she  was,  and  what  to  do  with  her  and 
the  child  was  a  grave  problem,  indeed.  We  could  scarcely 
live  and  keep  our  dogs,  let  alone  keeping  two  Indians  and 
their  dog.    We  finally  agreed  to  allow  her  to  occupy  the 


TROUBLESOME   INDIAN  WOMAN 


345 


teepee  until  the  Indians  came.  The  five  days  soon  passed, 
but  the  Indians  did  not  make  their  appearance.  We  de- 
termined that  it  was  very  imprudent  to  keep  her  any 
longer,  our  storehouse  being  so  near  depletion.  In  fact, 
we  feared  that  we  should  even  be  obliged  to  kill  our  dogs 
in  order  to  sustain  ourselves. 

On  the  tenth  day  Mr.  Rea  had  the  dogs  hitched  up 
bright  and  early,  to  take  her  and  her  outfit  to  the  Indian 
camp  sixty  miles  away.  I  told  her  then  to  pack  up  her 
traps  and  go.  She  was  completely  dumbfounded,  and  ab- 
solutely refused  to  move.  When  I  made  her  understand, 
however,  that  we  would  give  her  no  more  meat,  tea,  or 
wood,  she  agreed  to  get  ready  and  go,  provided  we  would 
bring  her  back  if  we  failed  to  find  the  Indian  camp, —  all 
of  which  we  agreed  to.  Then,  with  four  days'  rations  for 
every  one,  the  dogs  included,  Mr.  Rea  started  on  the  tedi- 
ous journey.  The  thermometer  registered  forty-two  de- 
grees below  zero.  The  little  seven-year-old  child  rode  in 
the  carryall,  while  Mr.  Rea  and  the  woman  were  obliged 
to  go  afoot,  with  snowshoes. 

To  say  that  I  was  happy  when  they  pulled  out,  does  not 
at  all  express  it. 

As  the  sun  was  going  down,  on  the  fourth  day  after  their 
leaving,  I  took  my  field-glass  and  swept  it  across  the  lake 
southward.  In  the  distance  I  could  see  a  train  of  dogs 
and  a  man  walking  ahead  of  it.  I  was  worried,  as  I  knew 
that  if  Mr.  Rea  were  alone,  he  would  be  riding  in  the  car- 
ryall. Presently  a  dog  rushed  out  at  one  side.  Then  I 
was  convinced  that  Susann  ( the  squaw)  was  returning, 
with  the  miserable  cur  that  belonged  to  her.  He  was  of 
no  possible  use  except  to  rob  us  of  our  subsistence.  Long 
after  dark  they  arrived  at  the  cabin,  cold  and  hungry,  as 
may  be  imagined.  I  had  a  hot  supper  prepared  for  them, 
which  was  fully  appreciated.  They  had  traveled  two  days 
through  soft  snow,  and  had  made  only  a  little  over  half 
the  distance  to  the  Indian  village.  Realizing  that  if  the 
Indians  were  not  there,  it  would  require  three  days'  jour- 


346 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


ney  to  reach  home,  as  the  distance  was  much  greater  than 
was  expected,  Mr.  Rea  turned  his  face  homeward,  wrhere 
he  knew  there  was  at  least  a  small  store  of  eatables. 
Supper  was  soon  served.  The  woman,  child  and  dog  had 
gone  to  the  teepee,  and  we  were  resting  ourselves  before  the 
fire,  discussing  the  deplorable  state  of  affairs,  when  sud- 
denly our  dogs  broke  loose,  barking,  and  running  toward 
the  lake.  On  looking  out,  there  we  discovered  a  train  of 
dogs  and  two  young  Indians  advancing  toward  our  cabin. 
They  proved  to  be  from  the  lodge  Mr.  Rea  had  been  trying 
to  find,  and  had  brought  a  small  supply  of  dried  meat, 
to  exchange  for  powder  and  balls,  which  we  secured  with 
gladness. 


CHAPTER  XXII 


INDIAN    TRIBE   LEFT    WOMAN  AND   CHILD   TO  PERISH  —  THE 
SCANTY  SUPPLY  DIVIDED  WITH  THEM  —  DROVE  THEM  OUT 

 MERCURY  AT  FORTY-EIGHT  DEG.  BELOW  ZERO  LITTLE 

ELLEN  COVERED  WITH    ICICLES  WOMAN   CUT    HER  FOOT 

WITH  AX  AS  AN    EXCUSE    TO    REMAIN  COLONEL  JONES 's 

LONG  JOURNEY  IN  THE  DEAD  OF  WINTER  CLOTHES  FROZEN 

STIFF  —  FAILED  TO  FIND  INDIAN  VILLAGE  SAVED  SUP- 
PLIES   BY  SCARING    THE    INDIANS  ATTEMPT    TO  SECURE 

REINDEER  INDIAN    WOMAN    SCARED    THEM    AWAY — TOO 

UMAD"    TO   SWEAR  SECURED  A  GUIDE   FOR  A  MUSK-OX 

HUNT. 

THE  good  fortune  we  met  with  in  receiving  the  small 
supply  of  dried  meat  brought  in  by  the  two  In- 
dians on  the  night  of  the  new  year  revived  our 
drooping  spirits,  and  that  night  delightful  dreams 
of  plenty  pervaded  our  slumbers.  The  idea  had  never  en- 
tered my  mind  but  the  Indians  had  come  purposely  for 
Susann,  as  she  had  insisted  they  surely  would.  The  next 
morning,  after  the  Indians  had  feasted  on  the  meat  we 
had  purchased  of  them  and  begged  about  one-half  the  re- 
mainder to  last  them  on  their  journey  home,  they  har- 
nessed their  dogs  preparatory  to  leaving.  Susann  still 
sat  flat  upon  the  floor,  as  was  her  custom  when  at  our 
cabin,  not  making  a  single  sign  indicating  a  purpose  of 
departure.  I  asked  the  men  if  they  intended  taking  her 
with  them,  which  was  answered  by  a  most  emphatic 
"  Ela !"  (  no  ).  I  knew  then  that  I  must  act  very  decid- 
edly in  the  premises,  as  the  squaw  with  her  "outfit" 

(347) 


348 


FORTY  YEARS    OF  ADVENTURES 


would  devour  everything  remaining  of  what  we  had  bought 
from  the  men.  I  plainly  told  them  that  Susann  must  go ; 
that  we  would  give  her  no  more  meat,  tea,  wood,  or  shel- 
ter ;  that  she  had  promised  to  leave  one  day  after  her  ar- 
rival, then  in  five,  now  she  had  been  here  fourteen  days; 
—  she  must  go  at  once. 

The  woman's  eyes  flashed  fire  during  our  conversation, 
and  she  begged  piteously  to  be  permitted  to  remain  five 
days  longer,  when  the  father  of  the  young  men  would  cer- 
tainly come  for  her.  I  told  her  and  the  men  that  I  would 
listen  to  no  more  of  their  lies  ;  she  must  go !  The  woman 
still  sat  in  her  place,  determined  evidently,  not  to  move; 
so  I  gathered  up  her  leather  hand-bag,  with  the  fur  coat 
she  had  pulled  off,  tossed  them  out  of  doors,  and  told  her 
at  the  same  time,  "  Towtee  I"  (  be  gone  ). 

She  finally  agreed  to  the  proposition,  but  the  men  were 
to  go  ahead  about  five  miles  to  a  piece  of  timber,  prepare 
tea,  and  await  her  arrival. 

Finally  all  had  left,  and  my  soul  rejoiced  over  their  de- 
parture, although  I  had  turned  a  widow  and  orphan  out 
into  the  cold  world,  without  shelter.  The  wind  was 
whistling  through  the  trees,  and  the  thermometer  regis- 
tered twenty-four  below  zero,  and  still  falling.  When 
night  came  it  was  forty-three  below,  and  the  next  night 
five  degrees  colder.  Mr.  Rea  remarked  that  if  the  tem- 
perature continued  to  lower,  the  child  would  certainly 
perish  that  very  night.  I  answered,  "If  '  God  can  tem- 
per the  wind  to  the  shorn  lamb,'  will  He  not  stay  the 
storm  and  temper  it  to  an  innocent  little  waif  ?  "  "  But," 
continued  Mr.  Rea,  "the  devil  has  control  of  matters  up 
here."   And  it  really  appeared  to  me  Mr.  R.  was  correct. 

I  was  well  aware  that  Susann  and  her  little  child  were 
somewhere  on  the  lake-shore,  with  nothing  but  dried 
meat  and  tea  to  eat  and  drink;  without  shelter  of  any 
kind,  excepting  that  of  the  heavens.  True,  they  had  a 
blanket  and  a  caribou  robe;  but  these  were  cold  comfort. 
Thinking  the  matter  over,  I  really  regretted  my  action, 


susann's  self-mutilation 


349 


and  was  worried  concerning  their  deplorable  condition, 
especially  when  I  thought  of  the  rugged  road  they  were 
compelled  to  travel.  The  Indians  had  moved  their  quar- 
ters forty  miles  northeast,  and  it  would  require  at  least 
four  days'  journey  for  them  to  reach  there. 

It  was  late  at  night.  I  had  recorded  the  temperature, 
which  indicated  by  the  thermometer  forty-eight  degrees 
below  zero,  and  had  gone  back  into  the  cabin  and  was  en- 
joying a  rousing  fire.  All  at  once  the  door  opened,  and 
there  stood  Susann  with  little  Ellen  by  her  side,  the  frost 
covering  them  both,  from  head  to  foot.  The  face  of  the 
child  was  complety  obscured  by  the  ice  that  had  formed 
from  her  breath  on  her  capoo  (  a  combined  hood  and 
frock),  while  icicles  appeared  to  hang  from  every  hair  of 
her  head. 

I  reluctantly  bade  them  come  in,  and  learned  from 
Susann  that  the  Indians  had  not  waited  for  them  at  all, 
and  that  she  had  cut  her  foot  with  a  small  axe,  which 
she  carried  for  procuring  firewood.  As  soon  as  both  had 
swallowed  some  tea  and  a  bowl  of  soup,  I  examined  Su- 
sann's f  oot.  Her  moccasin  was  terribly  cut,  but  the  wound 
proved  to  be  very  slight.  I  had  mistrusted  something, 
as  she  only  wanted  me  to  look  at  the  great  rent  in  her 
moccasin  and  not  at  the  gash  in  her  foot.  I  examined 
the  moccasin  carefully,  and  discovered  that  the  axe  had 
gone  entirely  through  the  sole,  as  well  as  the  top.  That 
was  enough :  she  had  determined  to  remain  at  our  camp 
or  die  in  the  effort,  and  had  deliberately  placed  her  moc- 
casin on  a  log  and  cut  it  with  the  axe,  then  used  her 
butcher-knife,  gashing  her  foot  to  correspond,  which  she 
thought  would  excite  our  sympathies,  and  she  would  be 
allowed  to  remain  and  continue  to  feast  off  our  scanty 
supply  as  she  had  been  doing. 

I  said  nothing  to  her  about  my  decision  regarding  the 
wound,  but  applied  carbolic  acid,  then  some  iodoform  on 
medicated  cotton.  On  the  fourth  morning,  when  taking 
off  the  bandage,  I  found  it  entirely  well.    It  was  a  great 


350 


FORTY  YEARS  OF  ADVENTURES 


surprise  to  Susann,  as  she  had  never  before  known  a  wound 
like  hers  healed  in  less  than  a  fortnight. 

I  then  told  her  to  get  ready ;  that  I  was  going  to  take 
her  and  her  child  to  the  Indian  camp,  sixty  miles  distant, 
on  the  sled.  All  she  did  at  this  intelligence  was  to  grunt 
and  gasp.  I  was  obliged  to  take  summary  measures,  for 
our  meat  was  nearly  exhausted,  and  it  was  impossible  to 
feed  them  any  longer.  She  tried  all  sorts  of  excuses  to 
awaken  my  sympathy,  taking  hold  of  her  foot  and  pre- 
tending that  it  was  very  painful ;  but  I  insisted  that  she 
must  go,  "  Hurra!"  I  picked  up  little  Ellen;  she  kicked 
and  screamed  like  a  wild  Indian,  but  I  finally  had  her  in 
the  carryall,  and  at  last  Susann  hobbled  to  the  door  and 
tumbled  in  also.  Susann  was  at  least  forty  years  old,  and 
weighed  about  180  pounds,  which  made  a  big  load  for  our 
dogs  in  their  half-starved  condition ;  besides,  there  was  the 
little  girl  and  three  days'  provisions,  my  gun,  ammuni- 
tion, and  robes. 

The  thermometer  registered  thirty-two  degrees  below 
zero  when  we  started,  and  I  acted  in  the  role  of  "  tripper." 
All  day  I  plodded  along,  until  late  in  the  night,  having 
made  fully  forty  miles.  I  was  completely  worn  out;  my 
stockings  and  moccasins  as  well  as  my  trousers  were  sat- 
urated with  perspiration,  and  were  frozen  stiff, —  so  it 
seemed  to  me  I  was  in  splints,  as  I  could  scarcely  bend 
my  limbs. 

A  fire  was  soon  kindled,  and  until  it  was  burning 
briskly  I  kept  up  the  circulation  by  wading  through  the 
deep  snow,  cutting  dry  sticks  in  the  darkness.  We  piled 
up  brush  and  spruce  boughs  on  the  north  side  of  the  fire, 
which  served  us  very  well  as  a  shelter  for  a  while,  until 
the  wind  changed  to  the  southeast,  and  made  matters  dis- 
agreeably uncomfortable,  as  the  wind,  smoke,  sparks, 
ashes  and  snow  were  flying  over  us,  all  at  the  same  time. 
The  Indians  did  not  seem  to  mind  such  trifling  play  of  the 
elements.  They  rolled  themselves  up  in  a  blanket,  pulled 
the  caribou  robe  over  them,  and  were  soon  sleeping  soundly. 


THE   DESERTED  INDIAN  CAMP 


351 


I  had  a  robe  and  blanket  also,  but  it  was  so  windy  and 
cold  I  could  not  sleep  a  wink  during  the  whole  night ;  it 
was  an  impossibility.  I  lay  as  quietly  as  I  could,  watch- 
ing the  Big  Dipper  as  it  apparently  circled  around  the 
Polar  Star,  and  when  it  was  half-way  around  from  where 
I  had  first  noticed  it,  I  knew  that  twelve  hours  had 
passed.  My  watch  had  long  since  become  disabled,  and  I 
only  knew  how  time  was  fleeting  by  watching  the  constel- 
lations at  night  and  a  sun-dial  during  the  day. 

The  kettle  was  boiled,  Susann  suddenly  ceased  snoring, 
and  after  a  scanty  lunch  we  were  once  more  on  our  lonely 
way. 

About  ten  o'clock  I  discovered  sled-tracks  running  in  all 
directions,  where  the  Indians  had  been  hauling  wood,  and 
I  knew  we  were  near  their  camp.  Another  half-mile 
brought  us  round  the  sharp  point  of  a  cliff,  and  there,  a 
short  distance  away,  the  skeleton  poles  of  three  teepees 
stood,  indicating  where  the  village  had  been.  Their  in- 
mates had  acted  the  part  of  the  Arabs, —  "  quietly  folded 
their  tents,  and  as  silently  stolen  away." 

Did  they  flee  to  avoid  Susann  ?  was  my  first  thought. 
I  then  tried  to  solve  the  problem,  and  remembered  that 
we  had  not  come  across  a  single  caribou-track  made  since 
the  last  snow,  more  than  a  week  previously.  This  told 
the  story :  they  had  been  forced  to  march  to  where  there 
was  game,  or  all  perish  from  hunger.  They  had  blazed 
trees  and  placed  sticks  along  the  route,1  which  they  knew 
Susann  or  anyone  else  could  easily  follow.  They  had  also 
provided  against  her  starving,  by  carefully  hanging  the 
carcass  of  a  fox  on  one  of  the  teepee-poles. 

By  indications  I  decided  they  must  have  left  three  days 
before  our  arrival.    I  was  sorely  disappointed.    My  feet 

1  Whenever  the  northern  Indians  break  up  their  camp  they  invariably  place  in  the 
ground  or  snow  two  sticks  at  an  angle  of  about  forty-five  degrees,  one  immediately 
behind  the  other,  pointing  in  the  direction  they  have  gone,  and  at  intervals  on  their 
march  set  single  sticks,  excepting  when  in  the  timber,  where  they  blaze  the  trees  for 
the  same  purpose.  Whether  on  bare  ground  or  snow-covered  ice,  the  same  method 
is  employed. 


352  FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 

were  sore  from  the  long  walk,  and  my  journey  back  must 
be  performed  as  I  had  made  it,  by  walking,  unless  the 
load  which  so  hampered  me  could  be  disposed  of ;  I  could 
then  ride  in  the  carryall. 

To  attempt  to  follow  an  Indian  trail  to  the  end  in  the 
winter  is  a  dangerous  undertaking,  unless  one  is  well  for- 
tified by  a  good  supply  of  provisions,  of  which  we  were 
very  short ;  and  besides,  I  had  only  one  small  feed  for  the 
dogs,  and  enough  for  myself  to  take  me  back  to  our  camp, 
but  no  more.  Now  this  must  be  shared  with  the  Indians. 
I  determined,  therefore,  to  follow  the  trail,  to  find  out,  if 
possible,  what  direction  the  occupants  of  the  deserted 
camp  had  taken.  Away  we  went  for  four  hours  in  an  ex- 
actly southeast  course  directly  from  my  way  home.  Fi- 
nally we  came  to  their  first  night's  halt,  and  here  we 
stopped,  boiled  the  kettle,  took  a  lunch  of  dried  meat, 
tea,  and  cold  biscuit.  I  knew  their  destination  must  be 
far  beyond,  or  they  would  not  have  stopped  and  camped 
for  the  night;  so  I  turned  the  carryall  around,  and  about 
three  o'clock  commenced  the  weary  journey  back  to  our 
humble  cabin. 

Darkness  coming  on,  we  stopped  and  made  tea,  after 
which  we  plowed  our  weary  way  through  the  wilderness 
of  spruce  and  birch  trees, —  or  rather,  bushes,  for  large 
timber  is  not  found  away  from  the  margins  of  the  lake ; 
and  even  there  the  trees  are  not  more  than  eighteen 
inches  in  diameter.  I  tramped  along  far  into  the  night 
and  until  completely  fatigued,  then  halted  for  a  little 
rest.  It  was  bitter  cold,  and  my  clothing  was  frozen 
stiff.  By  good  luck  we  stopped  in  a  group  of  dry  tama- 
rack, and  shortly  had  a  brisk  fire  under  way.  I  fed  the 
dogs  the  fox's  carcass  and  took  their  food  for  ourselves, 
which  made  a  scant  supper. 

I  partially  dried  my  garments,  rolled  up  in  a  blanket, 
and  had  a  short  nap.  When  I  awoke,  shivering  with 
cold,  the  fire  was  still  burning,  and  we  soon  had  the 
kettle  boiling.    After  eating  a  few  scraps,  at  about  four 


CHEERING  NEWS  FROM  MR.  REA 


353 


o'clock  we  were  again  toiling  on  our  way  home.  I  did 
not  walk,  but  took  a  swinging  gait  between  a  fast  walk 
and  a  run,  at  the  rate  of  about  four  miles  an  hour. 
When  noon  arrived  we  were  within  twenty  miles  of  our 
cabin,  and  I  felt  sure  I  could  hold  out  until  safely  there. 
We  had  two  small  biscuits  for  supper,  which  I  needed 
badly  in  order  to  keep  my  strength.  Susann,  apparently 
realizing  the  fact  without  any  suggestion  from  me,  re- 
fused to  eat  any.  This  was  the  first  charitable  act  she 
had  ever  shown  me,  as  we  had  not  been  at  all  congenial 
since  the  day  she  came  to  our  teepee.  When  within  seven 
miles  of  home  I  ate  the  last  morsel,  and  by  ten  o'clock 
was  sitting  before  a  brilliant  fire  in  our  comfortable 
cabin  —  something  I  appreciated  as  never  before,  espe- 
cially when  I  discovered  that  the  thermometer  registered 
fifty-two  degrees  below  zero. 

The  best  and  most  cheering  thing  of  the  season  was 
soon  revealed  to  me  by  Mr.  Rea :  that  he  had  killed  two 
caribou,  stored  the  meat  away  on  the  roof,  and  plenty 
was  to  be  our  portion  for  some  time  at  least.  My  heart 
was  gladdened  by  the  intelligence,  for  now  we  were  sure  of 
subsistence  for  three  weeks  more,  at  which  time  the  cari- 
bou were  expected.  Another  gratifying  thing  was,  we 
could  save  our  dogs  also,  which  were  indispensable  for 
our  musk-ox  hunt  in  March. 

Wood  became  very  scarce,  as  the  Indians  had  gathered 
every  dry  stick  in  the  early  part  of  the  winter,  and  we 
were  obliged  to  haul  all  we  burned  from  a  point  over  a 
mile  away,  through  deep  snow  and  over  rough  roads. 

Our  dogs  were  so  poor  it  became  a  vital  question 
whether  we  should  remain  at  the  cabin  or  be  compelled  to 
use  our  teepee  and  move  to  dry  timber.  On  account  of  the 
scarcity  of  wood,  we  were  obliged  to  deny  Susann  any  for 
her  wigwam,  as  it  required  much  more  to  keep  it  warm  than 
it  did  the  cabin.  So  we  moved  her  and  the  teepee  across 
the  bay,  where  plenty  of  fuel  could  be  procured,  and  from 
that  on  she  had  very  little  trouble  in  keeping  herself  and 
—  23 


354 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


child  comfortable.  We  set  her  to  lacing  up  snowshoes, 
making  moccasins,  and  repairing  those  nearly  worn  out, 
as  no  Indians  were  near,  and  it  was  an  art  with  which  we 
were  not  familiar. 

A  week  passed,  and  the  father  of  the  young  men  arrived 
with  a  sled-load  of  meat,  which  assuredly  we  were  glad  to 
receive.  He  brought  a  good  supply  for  Susann  also,  as 
they  had  moved  forty  miles  to  the  northeast,  and  had 
discovered  the  feeding-grounds  of  vast  herds  of  caribou. 

We  gave  the  dogs  a  reasonable  allowance  of  the  flesh,  as 
we  were  now  sure  the  danger  of  our  starving  was  past ; 
and  if  necessary  we  could  go  to  the  Indian  camp,  provided 
no  game  made  its  appearance  by  the  time  our  meat  supply 
became  exhausted.  It  was  impossible  for  us  to  hunt  cari- 
bou, as  the  snow  was  very  deep,  and  required  snowshoes 
at  least  five  feet  long  to  hold  us  up.  We  could  not  induce 
the  Indians  to  make  us  any  large  shoes,  for  they  were 
afraid  we  would  get  all  the  game. 

The  Indian  did  not  take  Susann  with  him,  but  prom- 
ised to  return  in  one  half-moon  with  his  family  and  go 
with  us  on  a  musk-ox  hunt.  Several  half-moons  passed, 
however,  but  no  Indians  made  their  appearance.  On  the 
4th  of  February,  Mr.  Rea  took  the  dogs  and  sled  and  went 
to  the  Indian  camp.  It  required  four  days  to  make  the 
journey.  He  did  not  find  the  Indians.  Fortunately, 
however,  he  discovered  a  cache  well  supplied  with  meat, 
and  loaded  on  three  caribou  carcasses,  leaving  tea,  powder 
and  balls  in  their  place.  As  the  weather  was  good,  his  re- 
turn trip  was  a  pleasant  one. 

On  the  9th  of  February,  while  looking  through  my 
field-glass,  I  discovered  nine  caribou  in  the  distance,  com- 
ing on  the  ice  of  the  lake.  They  took  a  different  route 
from  any  others,  bearing  farther  to  the  east  of  our  cabin. 
There  was  no  trail  broken  by  which  I  could  head  them  off 
in  that  direction.  As  we  needed  meat  very  much,  to  se- 
cure it  I  must  hasten  on  ahead  of  them  where  they  would 
enter  the  timber.    It  looked  almost  hopeless  to  try  to 


MORE  CARIBOU 


355 


wallow  through  the  snow  with  small  snowshoes,  and  the 
snow  was  very  deep  for  a  mile  and  a  half.  Yet  there 
might  not  be  any  more  game  coming  our  way  for  a  month, 
so  I  plunged  into  the  drifts,  which  were  nearly  three  feet 
deep.  The  snow  was  so  light  that  I  sank  about  eighteen 
inches  at  every  step.  I  kept  plodding  along  while  breath 
and  muscle  held  out,  then  halted  under  the  shelter  of  a 
spruce  tree. 

There  was  a  bare  chance  that  the  animals  might  swerve 
a  trifle  toward  me  and  come  within  range  of  my  rifle. 
Sure  enough,  the  angle  was  made  by  them  that  I  had 
hoped  for,  and  they  were  about  to  pass  three  hundred 
yards  to  the  east.  Deliberation  was  not  necessary:  it 
was  shoot  or  no  meat.  I  pulled  the  trigger  and  away 
went  the  nine  caribou  over  the  lake,  on  the  back  track. 
I  knew  that  if  I  sat  perfectly  motionless  they  would  stop 
to  investigate  the  cause  of  their  fright,  before  running 
very  far.  Soon  they  all  halted  in  a  bunch.  I  then 
raised  my  rifle  and  sent  a  ball  into  the  group,  and  was 
rewarded  by  a  sound  that  convinced  me  that  my  calcula- 
tion of  the  distance  had  been  correct.  Away  the  herd 
dashed,  leaving  two  of  the  coveted  animals,  each  limp- 
ing on  three  legs.  The  ball  had  not  carried  quite  high 
enough  to  hit  their  bodies,  but  fell  to  their  knees ;  it  had 
broken  a  leg  for  each.  They  hobbled  off  quite  lively, 
and  were  soon  out  of  range  again.  Satisfied  I  should  lose 
them  if  they  ever  sighted  me,  I  retreated  under  the  shade 
of  a  sapling,  and  from  there  went  to  the  cabin.  I  now 
took  two  of  the  shepherd  dogs  to  the  trail  of  one  of  the 
wounded  caribou,  that  was  hit  in  the  hind  leg.  As  soon 
as  the  dogs  caught  scent  of  it,  away  they  went,  and  after 
a  lively  race  for  a  mile  or  more,  brought  a  fine  doe  to  bay. 
Mr.  Rea  started  after  it,  and  succeeded  in  knocking  it  in 
the  head  with  an  axe.  It  was  a  fortunate  circumstance 
there  were  no  Indians  near  to  witness  the  killing,  or  they 
would  have  been  wild  with  rage,  as  the  first  thing  they 
cautioned  us  against  when  we  met  them  was  never  to 


856 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


knock  a  caribou  in  the  head.  It  must  either  be  shot,  or 
its  throat  cut,  for  to  knock  them  in  the  head  would  drive 
all  caribou  from  that  part  of  the  country,  never  to  return. 
This  they  in  their  superstition  religiously  believe.  They 
claimed  that  the  reason  Mr.  Rea  and  the  Indians  failed 
to  secure  musk-oxen  during  the  winter,  was  because  the 
former  wore  a  leather  belt,  which  they  believe  is  disas- 
trous to  success  on  such  hunts. 

Although  this  caribou  was  secured  by  their  disapproved 
method,  we  found  others  came  along  just  the  same. 

The  next  morning  I  took  the  trail  of  the  other  crippled 
one,  overhauled  it  about  two  miles  from  the  place  of 
shooting,  and  settled  all  its  trouble  by  a  well-directed 
ball. 

On  the  10th  there  were  brought  to  us  by  Indians,  to 
trade  for  powder,  two  sled-loads  of  meat.  The  Indians 
also  desired  bullets  with  which  to  hunt  musk-oxen.  It 
was  gratifying  to  make  the  exchange. 

Our  dogs  were  soon  able  to  haul  wood,  and  Susann  saw 
how,  while  absent  after  musk-oxen,  we  intended  to  leave 
the  cabin.  I  fastened  my  revolver  to  the  center-post,  tied 
a  cord  to  the  trigger,  ran  it  through  a  pulley  attached  to 
a  beadstead  beyond  the  other  post,  thence  through  a 
pulley  in  the  door  casing,  and  fastened  the  cord  to 
the  doorlatch.  Then  I  attached  another  cord  to  the 
doorlatch,  passed  it  under  a  bent  nail  just  above  the  latch, 
then  stood  behind  the  revolver  and  pulled  the  cord.  This 
had  the  effect  to  raise  the  latch  and  pull  the  door  open, 
thus  tightening  the  first  cord  so  that  it  cocked  and  dis- 
charged the  revolver,  it  being  a  double-action  piece.  The 
ball  struck  the  door-casing  and  made  the  splinters  fly. 
In  order  to  discharge  the  weapon,  all  required  was  to  pull 
the  cord  as  many  times  as  there  were  loads  in  it  (five). 
I  pulled  the  string  and  the  ball  struck  the  door-casing. 
I  then  readjusted  the  revolver,  and  pulled  three  times,  and 
at  each  pull  a  ball  passed  through  the  open  space.  The 
little  girl  was  so  scared  she  crawled  under  the  bed,  and 


SUSANN  BADLY  FRIGHTENED 


357 


only  came  out  after  the  weapon  had  been  taken  down. 
Susann  watched  my  operations  with  amazement,  and  ac- 
tually believed  the  weapon  would  shoot  as  many  times 
as  the  string  was  pulled !  She  was  so  frightened  that  she 
trembled  like  an  aspen.  I  then  took  one  of  our  surplus 
rifles,  placed  the  muzzle  of  it  at  the  bung-hole  of  a  pow- 
der-keg, and  arranged  a  string  to  the  trigger  so  that  if  any 
one  knocked  off  the  boards  from  the  windows,  raised  a 
rafter,  or  opened  the  door,  the  rifle  would  be  discharged, 
the  powder  ignited,  and  everything  blown  to  atoms.  I 
did  not  attempt  to  explain  matters  to  Susann  in  any  way 
whatever,  but  would  occasionally,  after  testing  these 
methods,  exclaim  in  an  audible  tone,  "  Nazu!  "  (good). 

When  I  went  to  my  traps  soon  after,  Susann  took  occa- 
sion to  visit  Mr.  Rea,  to  learn  if  I  had  not  gone  crazy. 
She  was  terribly  frightened,  and  begged  him  to  take  her 
and  the  child  immediately  to  the  Indian  camp,  seventy- 
five  miles  distant.  He  explained  to  her,  however,  that  as 
long  as  no  one  attempted  to  disturb  things,  hammer  on 
or  open  the  door,  or  raise  the  windows  or  rafters,  there 
was  not  the  slightest  danger,  but  woe  unto  the  Indian  that 
molested  anything  whatever  in  our  absence  after  musk- 
oxen.  He  also  explained  to  her  that  her  teepee  was  a 
good  distance  away  from  the  cabin,  and  no  harm  could 
come  to  her  and  her  little  Ellen.  This  seemed  to  some- 
what calm  her.  She  spread  the  report  of  what  I  had  done, 
as  soon  as  she  got  within  hearing  distance  of  the  In- 
dians on  their  arrival, —  which  was  just  as  we  desired,  in 
order  to  protect  our  property  from  the  prowling,  starving 
thieves  of  that  region,  who  never  lose  an  opportunity  when 
hungry  to  steal  whatever  they  can  lay  their  hands  on  in 
the  way  of  eatables.  In  all  our  dealings  with  those 
heathen,  we  made  them  understand  that  we  possessed  the 
power  to  destroy  every  Indian  in  existence  at  our  will,  and 
by  so  doing,  saved  ourselves  from  starvation. 

In  four  days  the  Indians  were  expected  to  arrive  on 
their  way  to  the  musk-ox  hunt,  some  four  or  five  hundred 


858  FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 

miles  to  the  northeast.  The  time  had  expired,  but  no  In- 
dians came.  Day  after  day  dragged  its  weary  length 
along,  and  our  supply  of  meat  was  being  rapidly  de- 
creased. 

We  were  well  aware  that  it  would  be  the  height  of  fool- 
ishness to  leave  for  a  trip  of  such  proportions  without  at 
least  ten  days'  rations  for  the  dogs  and  ourselves,  there- 
fore it  became  evident  we  should  have  to  make  a  trip  to 
the  Indian  camp  to  get  meat  or  game.  It  was  agreed  that 
if  no  caribou  made  their  appearance  in  the  vicinity  by 
night,  the  next  morning  Mr.  Rea  would  make  the  trip. 

That  morning  it  was  very  stormy,  the  wind  blowing  a 
gale,  which  precluded  the  possibility  of  seeing  any  great 
distance  in  advance.  The  caribou  have  three  trails  lead- 
ing from  Great  Slave  lake  to  Artillery  lake,  their  thor- 
oughfare to  the  north :  one  by  way  of  a  small  stream  a 
mile  and  a  half  east  of  our  cabin ;  one  by  way  of  a  draw 
half-way  to  the  stream;  another  via  the  large  stream  just 
west  of  our  camp.  It  was  quite  early  when  I  started  out 
and  plunged  into  the  storm  and  deep  snow  toward  the 
small  stream  mentioned,  to  find  out  whether  there  were 
any  signs  of  the  anticipated  animals.  Arriving  at  my  ob- 
jective point,  I  failed  to  discover  a  single  track.  On  my 
return  to  the  cabin  I  saw,  through  the  almost  blinding 
storm,  eight  of  the  coveted  animals  out  on  the  lake,  evi- 
dently directing  their  route  up  the  little  stream.  No 
snow  melted  under  my  feet  as  I  struggled  toward  the 
cabin,  and  upon  reaching  it  I  apprised  Mr.  Rea  of  the 
cheering  news  of  the  animals'  presence.  At  once  we  were 
both  on  our  way  to  head  them  off.  The  wind  was  blow- 
ing hard  from  the  southwest,  and  we  were  obliged  to  keep 
under  cover,  as  the  eye  of  the  caribou  is  exceptionally 
acute.  The  snow  in  the  timber  was  very  loose,  and  about 
three  and  a  half  feet  deep.  To  run  was  impossible,  to 
walk  was  almost  as  difficult,  and  we  were  compelled  to 
wallow  on  as  best  we  could,  which  was  effected  by  taking 
turns  and  breaking  a  trail  through  the  snow.    When  we 


BALKED  BY  THE  INDIAN  SQUAW 


359 


reached  the  little  river,  both  of  us  were  completely  satu- 
rated with  perspiration. 

The  animals  approached  within  five  hundred  yards  of 
the  mouth  of  the  stream,  and  then  laid  down.  Mr.  Rea 
and  I  regretted  that  we  had  not  taken  it  more  easily  and 
not  overheated  ourselves,  as  the  terrible  wind  with  the 
thermometer  at  twenty-six  deg.  below  zero  made  us  very 
uncomfortable,  indeed,  now  that  we  were  compelled  to 
stop  so  suddenly.  All  left  for  us  to  do  under  the  circum- 
stances was  to  break  a  trail  through  a  thick  clump  of 
pines  and  keep  walking  under  cover  until  the  caribou  had 
concluded  their  noonday  nap,  which  lasted  fully  two 
hours.  At  the  end  of  that  time  they  all  rose,  and  pro- 
ceeded on  their  course  until  they  arrived  at  the  trail  I 
had  made  early  in  the  morning.  There  they  appeared  to 
sniff  danger,  and  turned  their  heads  up  toward  the  draw. 
We  hurried  back  to  that  point,  and  were  ready  waiting 
for  them.  Before  caribou  enter  a  piece  of  timber  they 
invariably  pause  to  look  and  listen  for  any  danger  ahead 
on  the  route  they  intend  traveling.  While  the  herd  was 
thus  cogitating,  a  raven  suddenly  flew  up  the  draw,  and 
on  seeing  us  uttered  a  series  of  shrill  notes,  which  I  inter- 
preted to  be  a  rendering  of  Poe's  refrain,  "  Nevermore  "  ; 
but  the  caribou  appeared  to  have  a  translation  of  their 
own,  of  the  bird's  croak,  for  they  immediately  wheeled 
about  and  made  a  long  detour  toward  the  big  river  west 
of  our  cabin.  Their  movements  suited  us  perfectly,  as 
there  we  had  provided  blinds  so  that  we  could  easily  kill 
the  last  one  of  them,  thus  saving  a  wearisome  journey  of 
a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  for  meat.  We  hurried  west- 
ward, knowing  there  was  nothing  to  alarm  the  animals. 
Susann  had  come  over  that  morning,  and  we  had  left  our 
dogs  in  the  cabin,  cautioning  her  to  be  sure  to  keep  them 
perfectly  quiet  until  our  return.  Just  as  we  had  fixed 
ourselves  in  position  to  secure  the  game,  we  heard  the  re- 
port of  a  gun  from  near  the  cabin,  about  where  the  caribou 
were  passing  it.    We  instantly  divined  what  it  meant: 


360 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


Susann  had  taken  the  small  twenty-eight-caliber  shotgun, 
loaded  with  nothing  but  small  shot  (which  we  used  to 
shoot  ptarmigans1),  and  discharged  it  at  the  animals 
while  passing.  Stepping  out  from  where  we  had  been 
concealed,  to  an  elevation  close  by,  to  our  intense  disgust 
we  saw  Susann  standing  on  the  bank  of  the  lake,  and  the 
caribou  running  at  full  speed  half  a  mile  away,  in  the 
direction  whence  they  had  come.  Thus  ended  our  hardest 
day's  hunt  of  the  season.  On  our  return  to  the  cabin  I 
stepped  the  distance  from  where  Susann  had  stood  when 
she  fired  at  the  animals,  to  where  the  nearest  had  been, 
and  found  it  to  be  three  hundred  and  twelve  good  long 
paces.  If  she  had  been  within  ten  feet  of  them,  she 
could  not  have  killed  one  by  any  possible  chance ! 

To  say  that  we  were  disappointed  would  be  flattering 
the  English  language.  No  words  can  express  our  feelings 
at  the  turn  matters  had  taken,  but  we  could  do  nothing 
to  help  ourselves. 

The  next  day  Mr.  Rea  started  on  his  long  journey  for 
meat,  with  the  mercury  at  forty-eight  below,  and  returned 
the  fourth  day  without  anything,  as  the  Indians  had 
moved  their  camp,  and  the  great  storm  had  so  drifted  the 
•snow  as  to  entirely  obliterate  every  semblance  of  a  track 
to  indicate  which  way  they  had  gone. 

Susann  informed  us  that  the  Indians  were  to  move  to 
a  small  lake  at  the  head  of  a  little  stream,  emptying  into 
Great  Slave  lake ;  so  all  that  could  be  done  was  to  take 
her  and  the  child  as  guides  to  their  whereabouts.  The 
next  morning  Mr.  Rea  started  again  with  his  guides,  de- 
termined to  find  the  Indian  camp  or  some  game;  both,  if 
possible.  After  two  days'  absence  Susann  and  the  girl 
came  tramping  over  the  big  lake  and  reported  no  Indians 
at  the  little  lake,  and  that  Mr.  Rea  had  gone  in  the  direc- 
tion of  their  old  camp,  hoping  to  find  some  trace  of  them, 

1  Ptarmigan,  a  bird  belonging  to  the  partridge  family.  They  are  very  plentiful  in 
the  far  North.  In  winter  they  live  on  the  buds  of  willows  and  other  trees.  While 
their  color  is  a  pure  white  in  winter,  as  the  snow  leaves  they  shed  their  white  feathers,, 
which  are  supplemented  by  a  brown  plumage,  the  color  of  arctic  moss. 


DRESSING  THE  INDIAN  BOY'S  WOUND 


361 


or  caribou,  as  plenty  of  tracks  had  been  discovered  in  that 
vicinity  on  his  previous  trip. 

That  same  night,  two  Indian  boys  came  to  the  cabin 
from  the  village  to  have  me  dress  a  severe  cut  on  the  leg 
of  one  of  them,  occasioned  by  the  cut  of  an  axe.  They 
reported  meeting  Mr.  Rea  that  morning ;  then  I  knew  he 
would  be  guided  to  their  village  by  their  trail.  They 
brought  with  them  a  small  supply  of  meat  and  a  dozen 
caribou  tongues,  the  sight  of  which  cheered  my  despond- 
ency, especially  the  tongues,  for  they  were  certainly  de- 
licious enough  to  set  before  the  greatest  epicure.  Caribou 
tongues  are  entirely  different  in  their  flavor  from  those  I 
have  ever  eaten  of  any  other  animal.  Summer-cured 
tongues  are  prized  by  the  Indians  for  the  amount  of  fat 
they  contain.  In  winter  they  are  spongy,  and  lacking  in 
oil.  The  Indians  claim,  and  insist  upon  it,  that  in  sum- 
mer the  marrow  leaves  the  bones  and  flows  to  the  tongue, 
and  that  in  winter  the  reverse  is  the  case !  But  I  know 
for  a  certainty,  that  there  is  a  vast  difference  in  the 
amount  of  fat,  both  in  the  tongues  of  the  caribou  and  in 
their  bones,  at  the  times  specified. 

The  gash  on  the  boy's  foot  was  a  horrid-looking  sight. 
His  leg  had  been  wounded  two  weeks  previously ;  ' '  proud 
flesh"  (excessive  granulation)  had  already  made  its  ap- 
pearance, the  whole  foot  was  terribly  swollen,  and  it  had 
an  angry  phase  about  it  I  did  not  like.  I  first  made  him 
bathe  it  in  hot  water,  then  bound  on  burnt  alum,  letting 
it  remain  until  morning.  It  was  then  again  washed  out 
with  warm  water,  to  which  was  added  one-twentieth  part 
of  carbolic  acid.  After  drying,  medicated  cotton  well 
sprinkled  with  iodoform  was  bound  on.  He  then  took 
his  leave  in  the  carryall  for  the  village.  I  learned  after- 
ward that  he  reported  that  I  had  made  "strong  medi- 
cine," as  he  was  entirely  cured  in  six  days. 

During  the  sojourn  of  the  two  boys  I  kept  track  of  them 
pretty  closely.  They  were  just  as  likely  to  sit  down  in  a 
bucket  of  water  as  on  a  box;  sometimes  stirred  the  fire 


362 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


with  the  wrong  end  of  the  poking-stick ;  would  lounge  on 
our  bed,  which  was  certain  to  infest  it  with  vermin,  much 
to  our  discomfort. 

I  bought  the  meat  the  boys  had  brought,  and  when  they 
were  ready  to  leave  discovered  they  had  reserved  none  for 
themselves  (their  invariable  custom) ;  they  appealed  to 
me  for  enough  to  last  them  until  they  reached  home  —  a 
two-days  supply.  I  asked  them  how  much  it  would  take, 
and  kept  on  laying  it  out  until  they  said  it  was  enough. 
I  had  piled  up  more  than  half  purchased  of  them,  before 
they  would  admit  it  to  be  sufficient.  I  then  placed  it  all 
together,  and  told  them  they  could  not  have  any  unless 
they  surrendered  the  tea,  ammunition,  and  other  things; 
that  I  had  paid  them  sufficient  for  all  that  I  had  received. 
Susann  was  present,  and  began  to  chide  me  for  my  refusal 
to  give  them  "meat  su"  (  a  meal  of  victuals  ).  I  ordered 
her  out  of  the  cabin,  after  which  she  gave  me  a  respect- 
ful letting  alone.  The  boys  would  not  buy  back  a  scrap 
of  meat,  and  were  starting  on  their  long  journey  with- 
out anything,  either  for  themselves  or  dogs.  After  they 
had  gone  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  I  called  them  back1 
and  gave  them  a  dozen  biscuit,  which  I  knew  would  be 
ample  for  themselves;  the  dogs  I  thought  could  stand  a 
two-days  journey  without  food. 

On  the  24th  Mr.  Rea  returned  with  a  load  of  meat,  hav- 
ing taken  the  trail  of  the  boys  to  the  village,  as  I  had 
imagined  he  would,  and  experienced  no  difficulty  in  reach- 
ing his  destination.  While  at  the  lodge  he  had  hired  two 
Indians  with  sleds  to  go  with  us  after  musk-oxen,  and  we 
were  to  start  the  next  day.  They  had  no  idea  that  we 
wanted  any  young  animals,  as  they  are  not  born  until 
about  the  month  of  May.  Mr.  Rea  had  merely  told  them 
that  we  were  after  bull-heads.  Had  they  suspected  that 
we  were  really  after  young  animals  as  well  as  heads,  they 

1  It  is  a  well-known  principle  of  acoustics,  that  sounds  can  be  heard  in  the  higher 
latitudes  at  a  greater  distance  than  elsewhere.  It  is  a  very  easy  thiug  for  a  man  to 
make  himself  heard,  in  loud  conversation,  fully  the  distance  of  a  mile. 


SOUSIE  BARROMIE 


363 


would  have  refused  to  go  a  step  with  us.  Late  that  even- 
ing one  of  the  Indians  he  had  employed  arrived  with  his 
sled;  the  other  arrived  late  at  night.  But  at  the  last 
moment,  suspecting  the  real  purport  of  our  mission,  and 
angry  at  me  for  garrisoning  our  cabin  in  such  a  manner, 
they  refused  to  go. 

The  Indian  who  had  thus  far  fulfilled  his  contract  was 
Sousie  Barromie  —  Sousie  in  his  own  language  meaning 
Joseph.  He  was  about  thirty-five  years  old,  small  in 
stature,  weighed  nearly  125  pounds,  and  was  very  lithe 
and  powerful  for  his  size. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 


MUSK-OX  HUNT 


A  START  FOR  THE  FAR  NORTH  WITH  DOG-8LED8  —  CROSSING 
MOUNTAINS  ON  ARTILLERY  LAKE  CUTTING  TEEPEE- 
POLES  TERRIFIC  BLIZZARD  LYING  IN  BLANKETS  THIRTY- 
SIX    HOURS  FACING    THE     WIND     AT    FORTY  DEGREES 

BELOW  ZERO  — ON  CLINTON  GOLDEN  LAKE  —  CAMPED  IN 
LAND  OF  "  LITTLE  STICKS"  —  DOG  CARRIED  OFF  BY  ARC- 
TIC wolves  —  colonel  jones's  narrow  escape  —  press- 
ing TO  THE  FAR    NORTH,  FOLLOWED   BY  THE  WOLVES  

DISCOVERY  OF  NEW  RIVERS  AND  LAKES  —  MUSK-OX  AT  LAST 

 KILLS     SIX    MONSTERS  WOLVES    TAKE  VENGEANCE  

MINUTE  DESCRIPTION  OF  A  MUSK-OX  INDIAN  TALKED  TO 

THEM,  AND  BELIEVED  THEY  OBEYED  HIS  COMMANDS  — 
CROSSES  GREAT  FISH  RIVER  AND  ARCTIC   CIRCLE  —  OUT  OF 

WOOD,  HE  RETURNS  GUIDE  BADLY  LOST  —  COLONEL  JONES 

DEPENDED  ON  HIS  OWN  JUDGMENT,  AND  ARRIVED  IN  THE 

OLD    CAMP  PREPARING    TO    MAKE    ANOTHER    TRIP  FOR 

MUSK-OXEN  GUIDE    LEARNS    INTENTION    OF  HUNTERS  

IS  HORRIFIED,  AND  ABANDONS  THE  TWO  NIMRODS 

ON  the  morning  of  the  25th  of  February,  1898,  just 
as  the  sun  peeped  over  the  high  range  of  hills 
east  of  Fort  Reliance,  we  started  with  our  two 
dog-trains  across  a  portion  of  the  lake  and  up  a 
small  stream  northeast;  then  commenced  to  climb  the 
steep  hills,  the  route  so  graphically  described  by  Capt. 
Back,  of  the  Royal  Navy,  sixty-five  years  before.  The 
hills  really  turned  out  to  be  mountains  before  we  reached 

(364) 


OFF  ON  A  MUSK-OX  HUNT 


865 


their  summit.  The  day  was  passed  in  breaking  trails 
through  the  thick  birch  thickets  and  in  crossing  many 
small  lakes.  When  the  sun  was  sinking  in  the  west,  we 
had  arrived  at  a  point  ten  miles  up  the  west  shore  of  Ar- 
tillery lake.  The  weather  was  as  fine  as  could  be  desired, 
excepting  the  extreme  cold,  which  caused  us  to  shiver. 
We  made  our  first  night's  camp  in  a  clump  of  timber,  and 
the  early  morning  found  us  again  on  the  road,  taking  a 
northeasterly  direction  to  the  east  shore  of  the  lake.  At 
noon  we  arrived  at  a  small  grove  of  spruce  trees ;  and  here 
Sousie  gave  us  to  understand  that  we  must  cut  our  teepee- 
poles,  as  this  was  the  last  wood  long  enough  for  that  pur- 
pose ;  there  were  "  plenty  little  sticks  "  that  would  serve 
us  for  fire  on  the  next  "  big  water." 

Here,  in  order  to  get  poles  long  enough  for  our  teepee, 
—  and  it  was  only  a  small  one, —  we  were  obliged  to  cut 
down  the  scrubby  dead  timber,  which  was  fully  seven 
inches  in  diameter,  score  and  hew  them  down  to  about 
three  inches,  so  as  to  make  them  as  light  as  possible.  We 
placed  five  on  each  sled,  but  unfortunately  broke  two  that 
night, —  or  fortunately,  as  it  turned  out,  as  eight  were  as 
many  as  we  cared  to  haul. 

We  made  a  light  drive  that  afternoon  to  a  canon  where 
we  found  wood  enough  for  a  fire,  and  where  Sousie  suc- 
ceeded in  killing  four  caribou,  while  Mr.  Rea  and  myself 
pitched  our  tent  and  cooked  supper.  One  of  the  animals 
shot  proved  to  be  a  barren  doe ;  was  very  fat,  and  we  fully 
appreciated  its  delicious  flesh.  It  was  the  first  meat  fit 
to  be  eaten  that  we  had  tasted  for  four  months.  True, 
we  had  plenty  of  dried  meat  in  our  sledges,  but  it  was 
nearly  as  tough  as  rawhide. 

The  next  morning  a  fine  buck  caribou  came  trotting 
across  a  small  bay,  and  before  we  realized  it  one  of  our 
shepherd  dogs  broke  away  and  gave  it  chase.  That  was 
the  last  we  saw  of  poor  "  Shep  "  until  our  return  to  the 
cabin,  where  we  found  him  camping  with  Susann.  He 
had  traveled  over  sixty  miles  alone,  on  his  return  home. 


366 


FORTY  XEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


In  the  afternoon  we  pulled  off  for  the  bluffs,  found  a 
few  small  dry  sticks,  and  loaded  them  on  our  sleds,  for 
cooking  supper  and  breakfast.  Sousie  said,  "  Tewey  na- 
chaw,  ditchen  slaw"  (big  water,  wood  plenty),  which  we 
knew  had  reference  to  Clinton  Golden  lake. 

The  weather  was  quite  warm  and  sloppy.  Shortly  be- 
fore night,  snow  commenced  to  come  down  thick  and  fast. 
We  had  left  the  lake,  and  were  ascending  the  small  river 
that  connects  the  two  large  lakes.  We  pitched  our  teepee 
on  a  large  knoll  just  west  of  the  river,  where  the  wind 
had  swept  off  the  snow,  but  it  was  covered  with  jagged 
rocks,  and  made  a  very  uncomfortable  bed;  yet  anything 
was  preferable  to  lying  on  the  wet  snow.  The  wind  soon 
changed  to  the  north,  and  blew  a  gale.  We  piled  large 
stones  on  the  lower  walls  of  the  teepee,  and  with  a  guy- 
line  from  the  top,  anchored  it  to  a  large  stone. 

All  night  the  teepee  kept  flapping  and  jerking  with  such 
terrific  force  that  we  expected  every  minute  it  would  be 
rent  from  top  to  bottom.  When  morning  arrived  the 
wind  was  still  blowing,  the  snow  sifting  through  every 
place  where  even  a  single  stitch  had  been  broken  in  our 
heavy  duck-cloth  teepee.  It  was  already  three  or  four 
inches  deep  over  our  covering.  We  did  not  dare  to  stir, 
or  the  uncomfortable  element  would  fill  our  bed.  All  we 
could  do  was  to  lie  still.  Toward  night  we  realized  it 
would  be  best  to  eat  a  lunch  at  least,  but  Sousie  was  too 
smart  to  uncover  himself,  and  we  were  emulating  Indian 
habits  in  a  commendable  style.  Finally  I  reached  into 
the  carryall  ( that  of  necessity  was  always  inside  the  tee- 
pee, to  prevent  the  dogs  from  eating  the  rawhide  strings 
with  which  it  was  lashed  up),  and  fished  out  of  the  snow 
a  small  sack  of  frozen  biscuits,  which  I  passed  around  un- 
der cover;  and  that  was  all  we  had  to  eat  until  the  next 
morning.  The  wind  raged  all  day,  and  as  night  came  on 
it  increased,  and,  combined  with  the  jerking  and  flapping 
of  the  teepee  and  the  howling  dogs  outside,  made  the  long, 
dreary  night  hideous. 


ARCTIC  WOLVES 


367 


At  the  first  streak  of  dawn,  Sousie  peeped  out  and  gave 
an  Indian  whoop;  then  said,  in  a  cheerful  tone,  with 
much  emphasis  :  "  Nazu !  Nazu  !  "  (good). 

Mr.  Rea  and  myself  had  been  in  our  blankets  for  two 
nights  and  one  day,  therefore  were  in  a  good  frame  of  mind 
for  such  cheering  news,  not  having  eaten  anything  for 
thirty-six  hours,  excepting  a  frozen  biscuit.  We  had 
barely  enough  sticks  to  make  fire  sufficient  to  bring  the 
kettles  to  a  boil,  and  were  very  glad  for  the  opportunity 
of  proceeding  on  our  journey. 

By  the  time  the  sun  was  up  we  were  off  for  the  "  big 
water."  The  thermometer  registered  forty  degrees  below 
zero,  the  wind  was  sharp,  and  our  faces  were  more  or 
less  frosted.  About  noon  we  were  gliding  over  Clinton 
Golden  lake  in  a  northeasterly  direction.  At  3  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  we  saw  a  clump  of  bushes  far  to  the  east, 
up  a  deep  ravine.  When  we  arrived  and  inspected  it, 
found  nothing  but  green  sticks,  but  discovered  another 
grove  with  some  dry  wood  ( very  limited ) .  Here  we 
pitched  our  teepee.  That  night  it  snowed  and  blew 
furiously. 

Mr.  Rea  and  Sousie  had  killed  three  caribou  before  the 
storm  set  in,  and  we  were  well  supplied  with  meat.  Next 
day  was  so  stormy  we  were  obliged  to  lie  in  our  blankets 
most  of  the  time.  That  night  the  arctic  wolves  made 
their  appearance.  They  made  no  noise,  but  came  for 
business.  It  was  the  sneaking,  silent  devils  that  did  the 
mischief.  The  "  calamity-howlers"  we  did  not  fear;  all 
we  had  to  do  was  to  stop  the  calamity  ( by  killing  them 
plenty  of  meat )  ;  then  they  always  stopped  their  howling. 

Long  after  the  midnight  hour  had  passed,  our  dogs 
commenced  to  make  a  great  fuss  around  the  teepee. 
Finally  we  made  up  our  minds  that  the  Indian  dogs  were 
trying  to  eat  up  our  dogs,  or  vice  versa.  We  knew  they 
could  not  be  hungry,  as  we  had  supplied  them  liberally 
with  meat.  I  heard  my  faithful  shepherd  dog,  Don, 
screaming  as  if  about  to  be  killed.    It  was  so  stormy  we 


368 


FORTY  YEARS    OF  ADVENTURES 


well  knew  that  if  we  stirred,  our  beds  would  be  filled 
with  snow.  The  dog  cried  pitifully.  I  could  not  refrain 
from  rushing  out,  and  as  I  slipped  under  the  flap  door  of 
our  tent,  I  grabbed  an  axe,  and  before  my  feet  were  out, 
a  dog  ran  against  me  and  I  went  rolling  in  the  snow. 
As  soon  as  I  could  collect  myself,  I  discovered  all  the 
dogs  were  going  around  the  teepee  at  a  terrific  speed,  and 
behind  them  came  nearly  as  many  white  objects,  which 
sent  a  thrilling  sensation  over  me,  as  it  reminded  me  of 
the  "  white-winged  messengers  of  death."  I  knew  what 
it  all  meant,  and  called  to  Mr.  Rea  to  hand  me  the  gun, 
crying,  " Wolves!  wolves!  "  Before  he  could  pass  it  out, 
a  monstrous  wolf  dashed  at  one  of  the  little  shepherd 
dogs  that  had  taken  refuge  between  my  legs.  I  struck  at 
him  with  the  axe,  but  missed.  "  Don's"  courage  was 
still  with  him,  for  he  caught  the  wolf  by  the  hind  leg, 
but  the  monster  seized  him  by  the  back  and  started 
toward  the  brush  a  few  rods  to  the  east.  Just  then  Mr. 
Rea  handed  me  my  Winchester.  I  ran  up  to  the  enraged 
brute,  almost  close  enough  to  touch  him  with  the  gun, 
and  fired.  He  let  loose  his  hold  and  dashed  at  me.  I 
warded  him  off  with  the  gun.  He  grabbed  the  barrel  of 
the  Winchester  so  tightly  that  he  broke  several  teeth ;  he 
held  it  till  death  relaxed  his  grip.  The  ball  had  passed 
through  his  lungs.  I  cut  off  his  head  and  skinned  it  for 
mounting.  As  soon  as  I  had  disposed  of  the  dreadful 
brute,  the  others  skulked  into  the  brush.  We  took  the 
dogs  into  our  teepee,  and  at  daybreak  pulled  out  for  the 
north. 

The  storm  had  not  fully  abated,  yet  we  could  make 
fair  time;  in  fact,  we  were  obliged  to  make  time  or  freeze. 
All  day  we  plowed  through  the  soft  snow  until  nearly 
night,  when  we  came  to  an  immense  band  of  caribou. 
Mr.  Rea,  Sousie  and  I  killed  one  each.  We  then  went 
into  camp  about  two  miles  north  of  where  we  had  killed 
them.  We  took  particular  pains  to  take  the  fattest  ani- 
mal and  leave  two  for  the  howling  wolves,  so  as  to  get  rid 


WATCHING  FOR  MUSK-OXEN 


369 


of  them  if  possible.  We  took  the  dogs  into  the  tent,  and 
had  a  good  rest  until  near  daybreak,  when  we  were 
awakened  by  the  snapping  and  growling  of  the  miserable 
brutes.  There  were  so  many  they  no  doubt  had  devoured 
the  caribou,  and  wanted  our  portion  of  the  fresh  meat. 

Again  we  were  out  bright  and  early,  keeping  up  our  old 
gait.  The  wind  was  still  blowing  a  gale  from  the  north- 
east. "  Bucking  "  a  gale  on  the  Barren  Lands  is  no  boy's 
play,  and  by  night  we  were  in  good  condition  to  rest;  as 
we  had  no  fresh  meat  that  night,  the  wolves  gave  us  no 
trouble. 

We  kept  close  watch  all  day  for  signs  of  musk-oxen,  but 
saw  nothing  to  indicate  their  whereabouts.  The  limit  of 
the  range  of  these  animals  is  as  far  south  as  the  north  end 
of  Artillery  lake,  yet  they  rarely  pass  south  of  Clinton 
Golden  lake.  We  were  now  about  seventy  miles  north  of 
the  south  line  of  their  range.  Clinton  Golden  lake  lies 
at  a  high  altitude,  about  twenty  miles  north  and  some 
three  hundred  feet  above  Artillery  lake,  while  the  latter 
is  fully  seven  hundred  feet  higher  than  Great  Slave  lake. 
The  altitude  and  latitude  make  it  ten  to  fifteen  degrees 
colder  there  than  at  our  cabin  home.  Clinton  Golden 
lake  is  connected  with  Artillery  lake  by  a  small  river. 
The  latter  lake  empties  about  the  same  amount  of  water 
as  it  receives,  into  the  Great  Slave  lake,  through  another 
river,  of  about  the  same  size,  sixty  miles  long. 

We  discovered  a  river  nearly  or  quite  as  large  as  either 
of  such  rivers,  emptying  into  the  Clinton  Golden  lake  at 
its  northeast  corner.  The  river  was  open  in  places  where 
the  current  was  at  all  rapid,  indicating  that  it  came  from 
a  deep  lake  near  by.  This  river  we  traced  in  a  north-by- 
northeast  direction  about  ten  miles  to  where  it  emerges 
from  a  small  lake.  The  small  lake  was  connected  with 
larger  lakes  to  the  northeast,  as  we  could  see  them  from 
elevated  places,  stretching  out  as  far  as  the  eye  could  see. 
On  the  return  we  crossed  a  lake  eight  miles  wide  by 
twenty  long. 
—  24 


370 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


On  the  morning  of  the  4th  we  pulled  northward,  with 
the  wind  more  in  our  favor,  blowing  from  the  west. 
About  noon  we  discovered  tracks  of  the  mighty  musk-ox, 
and  went  into  camp. 


INDIAN  TALKS  TO  THE  MUSK-OXEN 


371 


Mr.  Rea  and  Sousie  took  a  reconnoiter,  and  soon  lo- 
cated a  herd  of  six  very  large  bulls.  I  was  apprised  of 
the  fact,  and  soon  hastened  to  the  scene.  When  we  ap- 
proached the  black  monsters  the  contrast  betwe'en  them 
and  the  surrounding  white  landscape  made  them  appear 
much  larger  than  they  really  were.  Sousie  commenced  to 
talk  to  them  in  a  loud  tone  of  voice,  and  on  hearing  him 
they  ran  into  a  compact  group,  looking  in  all  directions 
for  the  strange  noise.  We  were  well  sheltered  behind  a 
pile  of  large  rocks,  and  lost  no  time  in  getting  in  proper 
position.  All  the  time  our  guide  led  the  way,  and  told  the 
animals  to  keep  quiet ;  that  we  intended  to  kill  them,  just 
as  the  Great  Spirit  wished  them  to  die,  and  that  we  would 
not  kill  any  more  than  He  had  determined  upon ;  that  it 
was  much  more  honorable  to  be  killed  by  shooting  than  to 
be  devoured  by  the  wolves,  as  they  would  surely  come  soon 
and  destroy  all  if  they  disregarded  the  warning  he  was 
giving  them.  We  did  not  understand  fully  what  he  said 
at  the  time,  as  our  excitement  and  the  creaking  of  our 
snowshoes  had  prevented  it.  We  questioned  him  that 
evening  all  about  what  he  had  said,  and  why.  He  be- 
lieved that  if  he  had  not  told  them  to  stand  still,  they 
would  all  have  escaped  and  we  should  have  lost  not  only 
them,  but  all  others,  on  that  particular  trip. 

We  had  no  trouble  in  getting  within  a  hundred  yards  of 
them,  as  the  country  was  all  piled  over  with  stones,  some 
as  large  as  a  farm-house.  Each  one  picked  his  animal, 
and  in  less  time  than  it  takes  to  write  it  they  were  all 
dead  among  the  stones  excepting  one,  that  darted  behind 
a  large  rock.  When  we  walked  around  so  as  to  look  at 
him,  the  poor  fellow  was  tottering  on  his  trembling  legs. 

Sousie  raised  his  gun  to  shoot,  but  I  shouted  u  Ela !  " 
(no),  "  let  him  die  peacefully;"  and  he  dropped  the 
gun  at  his  side  without  firing.  The  animal  lived  but  a 
minute,  then  laid  down,  and  rolled  over  on  his  side.  We 
had  anticipated  great  sport  in  shooting  the  musk-ox,  be- 
lieving it  to  be  a  game  animal,  but  in  this  we  were  sorely 


372 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


disappointed;  it  was  like  slaughtering  cattle  in  a  corral. 
We  then  inspected  our  dead  quarry.  They  were  much 
larger  than  I  had  expected  to  see ;  they  are  relatively  di- 
minutive while  standing,  as  their  legs  are  so  short  that 
they  do  not  appear  as  large  as  they  really  are.  Their  bod- 
ies are  as  large  as  a  good-sized  bullock,  and  had  those  we 
killed  been  in  good  condition,  I  believe  they  would  have 
compared  favorably  with  a  fair-sized  three-year-old  fat 
steer.  Their  bones  were  massive  and  firm,  which  indi- 
cates wonderful  strength.  The  bone  between  the  ankle 
and  knee,  from  joint  to  joint,  was  exactly  the  length  of 
the  width  of  my  three  fingers ;  their  other  bones  were  not 
in  proportion. 

They  must  possess  wonderful  vitality  and  endurance, 
as  they  are  so  large  around  the  girth.  Their  breasts  are 
as  broad  and  as  well  developed  as  that  of  a  Norman  horse. 
Their  hinder  parts  are  unlike  that  of  the  buffalo;  they 
are  as  squarely  built  as  a  Galloway  steer.  The  meat  on 
the  ham  extends  well  down  to  their  hock,  and  lies  in  rolls. 
When  fat,  a  square  cut  across  the  buttock  resembles  va- 
riegated marble.  The  under  fur  is  very  long  and  compact ; 
as  fine  as  silk,  and  when  twisted  into  a  small  thread 
tightly,  a  man  can  scarcely  break  it.  Doubtless  it  would 
produce  the  strongest  fabric  known,  if  properly  manufac- 
tured. The  tail  is  not  at  all  worthy  of  the  name  —  merely 
a  small  tuft  of  hair  at  the  end  of  the  spinal  column. 
The  hair  on  their  necks  and  sides  nearly  sweeps  the 
ground  as  they  walk.  It  is  jet  black,  except  that  around 
the  nose  and  feet,  and  a  large  spot  on  the  back,  which  is 
of  a  gray  cast.  The  dark  hair  is  of  a  glossy  nature,  ri- 
valing the  locks  of  a  Mexican  senora,  which  have  been 
bathed  in  bear's  oil  for  half  a  score  of  years.  On  dis- 
secting the  stomach  we  found  a  little  dead  grass  and  a 
great  amount  of  moss,  wrell  mixed  together,  which  con- 
vinced me  they  would  thrive  on  good  hay  or  other  forage. 
Their  feet  very  much  resemble  those  of  our  domestic  cat- 
tle, excepting  that  the  heels  are  a  little  broader,  and 


MYRIADS  OF  WOLVES 


373 


are  as  soft  as  the  frog  of  a  horse's  hoof.  They  roam  very 
little,  as  their  hoofs  would  rapidly  wear  away  on  the  rocks 
and  pebbles  covering  the  rugged  region  of  their  habitat. 

We  pitched  our  teepee  near  the  dead  carcasses,  and 
spent  the  afternoon  in  skinning  and  preparing  the  heads 
for  mounting.  On  dissecting  their  bodies  we  found  their 
anatomy  resembled  the  bovine  genus1  in  all  particulars, 
excepting  the  stomach  and  intestines.  These  are  formed 
like  those  of  the  sheep ;  their  droppings  resemble  that  ani- 
mal's, but  are  larger  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  beast. 
In  consequence  of  such  a  marked  contrast  between  these 
organs  and  those  of  the  bovine,  it  is  hardly  probable  they 
could  be  crossed  with  domestic  cattle  or  buffalo.  Having 
had  so  large  an  experience  in  crossing  the  latter,  it  was  a 
very  interesting  study  to  me,  and  I  was  well  repaid  for 
our  trouble  thus  far. 

That  night  it  appeared  as  if  all  the  wolves  in  North 
America  had  congregated  around  our  teepee  to  take  ven- 
geance on  us  for  slaughtering  these  dumb  brutes.  At 
early  dawn  I  peeped  out.  Every  elevation,  every  depres- 
sion, and  every  slope  between,  was  literally  covered  with 
wolves.  Some  stood  within  four  rods  of  the  teepee.  I 
slipped  my  Winchester  through  the  door,  and  selecting  a 
large,  pure-white  animal,  held  my  gun  rather  low,  as  it 
was  quite  dark,  and  I  feared  I  might  overshoot  the  mark. 
At  the  crack  of  the  gun,  the  wolf  went  hobbling  off,  but 
soon  fell  dead,  as  I  supposed.  I  lingered  a  moment, 
hoping  to  get  another  shot,  but  the  others  took  the  hint 
and  skulked  away.  I  then  went  out  to  examine  the  one 
I  thought  already  killed,  but  the  moment  I  came  near  it, 
up  it  jumped  and  started  to  run ;  I  gave  him  another 
shot  and  he  came  down.  When  I  approached  him  I 
found  both  a  fore  and  hind  leg  broken ;  I  shot  him  again, 
and  he  soon  expired.  He  was  a  magnificent  specimen, 
so  I  set  myself  at  work  to  skin  him  for  mounting.  After 

1  Many  anatomists  claim  that  the  musk-ox  belongs  to  the  order  of  goats,  but  it  is 
generally  classed  with  the  bovine. 


374 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


I  had  proceeded  well  with  the  work,  I  was  astonished  to 
discover  that  the  brute  had  eaten  off  his  foot  below  the 
place  where  his  leg  had  been  broken  by  my  first  shot. 
No  doubt,  on  smelling  the  blood  that  saturated  his  leg, 
his  appetite  could  not  be  restrained.  The  foot  gone,  I 
regarded  the  animal  as  worthless  for  the  purpose  desired, 
so  abandoned  it.  I  had  often  seen  wolves,  when  wounded, 
devoured  by  others  of  a  hungry  pack,  but  this  was  the 
first  time  I  had  ever  witnessed  or  heard  of  any  animal 
eating  itself.  ( I  have  inserted  this  remarkable  instance, 
despite  the  protest  of  Mr.  Rea,  for  while  he  declares  that 
he  personally  knows  it  to  be  true,  yet  says  no  one  will 
believe  it.  I  am  determined  to  give  facts,  regardless  of 
the  opinions  of  the  public.)  We  were  astonished,  when 
we  inspected  the  six  musk-ox  carcasses,  to  find  they  had 
not  been  disturbed  in  the  least  by  the  numerous  hungry 
wolves. 

The  wolves  of  the  far  North  are  as  white  as  the  arctic 
snow,  excepting  a  jet  black  one  is  occasionally  to  be 
seen,  and  a  few  gray, —  exactly  the  color  of  the  prairie 
"  loafers,"  or  buffalo  wolves,  so  numerous  during  the  days 
of  that  great  ruminant.  It  is  a  mystery  to  me  why  the 
hordes  of  arctic  wolves  have  not  long  ago  exterminated 
the  musk-ox  and  reindeer,  yet  the  deer  were  so  numerous 
that  we  saw  tens  of  thousands  every  day.  The  whole 
country  had  been  literally  trodden  down  by  them  since 
the  last  snow,  until  it  resembled  a  sheep  corral.  Those 
who  have  not  seen  the  immense  herds  of  these  graceful 
creatures  cannot  realize  their  magnitude;  and  language 
fails  to  convey  the  idea. 

Of  the  vast  number  of  these  animals  we  saw  on  that 
trip,  all  were  females  on  their  way  to  the  Arctic  ocean 
regions  to  bring  forth  an  equal  number  to  themselves 
during  the  summer,  now  rapidly  approaching.  The  males 
were  still  lingering  in  the  forests  far  southward,  which 
they  visit  in  November,  leaving  them  during  the  months 


ENEMY  OF  THE  REINDEER 


375 


of  August  and  September  on  their  northern  migration,  to 
meet  the  does  in  October. 

The  wolf  appears  to  be  their  only  enemy,  as  the  Indians 
do  not  kill  a  number  sufficient  to  be  noticed,  any  more 
than  the  falling  of  a  single  needle  in  the  mighty  pine  for- 
ests of  the  Pacific  coast.  These  arctic  wolves  are  very  cun- 
ning animals.  They  must  be  very  hungry,  to  be  induced 
to  eat  meat  they  do  not  themselves  kill ;  that  is  why  they 
fought  so  viciously  for  our  live  animals.  For  the  reason 
referred  to,  it  is  very  difficult  to  poison  or  trap  them. 
The  arctic  wolf  is  a  swift  animal,  and  the  Indians  claim 
he  can  catch  a  caribou  whenever  he  chooses ;  but  I  doubt 
that  statement  very  much,  or  they  would  be  in  much  bet- 
ter condition,  and  not  so  persistently  ferocious  in  their 
eagerness  to  get  something  to  eat.  I  have  often  seen 
them  chasing  reindeer,  but  they  never  came  anywhere 
near  catching  them.  They  lie  in  wait  for  their  prey,  and 
rush  after  it  with  tremendous  speed ;  but  the  deer,  seem- 
ingly ever  on  the  alert,  elude  the  fangs  of  the  hungry 
devils.  I  am  convinced  it  would  take  a  mighty  fast  wolf 
to  overtake  even  a  poor  old  reindeer.  Some  of  my  shep- 
herd dogs  were  regarded  as  excellent  runners,  yet  it  was 
rarely  that  they  went  fast  enough  to  make  a  deer  break 
his  trot.  Talk  of  Nancy  Hanks !  Through  a  field-glass 
I  have  watched  my  dogs  flying  over  the  Great  Slave  lake 
after  the  trotting  beauties,  but  have  never  seen  a  horse  in 
the  United  States  that  could  glide  along  with  such  ease 
and  grace  as  the  reindeer, —  and  I  have  been  present  at 
some  of  the  most  prominent  races  that  ever  occurred  in 
this  country.  While,  of  course,  wolves  cannot  catch  a 
caribou  in  a  fair  race,  yet  when  they  have  exhausted  all 
other  means  of  obtaining  food;  when  actual  starvation 
compels  them,  and  not  before,  they  start  after  a  caribou, 
chasing  it  day  and  night  without  ceasing,  until,  com- 
pletely worn  out,  the  poor  creature  succumbs  to  its  raven- 
ous enemy.    It  does  not  make  the  slightest  difference  how 


376 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


many  herds  of  its  fellows  the  chased  caribou  runs  through, 
the  wolves  keep  on  its  track,  paying  no  attention  to  any- 
thing but  the  capture  of  their  prey,  which  event  they 
know  is  just  ahead. 

After  I  had  spent  an  hour  shooting  wolves,  Mr.  Kea 
called  me  in  to  breakfast.  That  suited  me,  for  I  was 
hungry ;  and  we  ate  the  flesh  of  the  musk-ox.  One  of  the 
animals  killed  appeared  very  old,  but  was  quite  fat.  We 
saved  a  porterhouse  steak  from  him,  and  the  ribs;  the 
latter,  when  boiled  long  enough,  were  very  palatable.  I 
could  neither  smell  nor  taste  any  musk,  though  Mr.  Rea 
declared  he  got  a  whiff  of  it  while  skinning  the  superan- 
nuated bull. 

After  breakfast  we  took  up  our  old  course,  north  by 
northeast,  and  kept  it  for  two  days,  when  we  reached  the 
Great  Fish  river.  Here  we  reconnoitered  diligently,  but 
found  no  signs  of  musk-oxen.  We  then  crossed  over,  and 
traveled  two  days  more  in  the  same  direction,  but  dis- 
covered nothing.    Even  reindeer  were  left  far  behind. 

On  the  8th  we  swung  around  to  the  east,  and  took  an 
almost  southerly  direction  for  three  days.  We  saw  old 
signs  of  musk-oxen,  but  nothing  fresh.  On  the  10th  it 
snowed,  and  the  wind  blew  furiously, —  so  much  so  that 
our  guide  (  Sousie  Barromie  )  became  perfectly  bewildered 
and  lost.  He  was  considered  the  best  posted  and  best 
hunter  of  the  Yellow  Knife  tribe.  We  had  a  terrific  wind 
at  our  back,  and  the  very  fact  of  being  lost  was  such  an 
incentive  to  find  some  place  that  Sousie  would  recognize, 
that  it  sent  us  to  a  high  rate  of  speed.  Having  started  at 
four  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  kept  up  our  pace  until 
seven  in  the  evening,  with  only  one  hour's  stop  for  din- 
ner, we  must  have  covered  fully  fifty  miles.  Three  and 
a  half  miles  an  hour,  I  am  sure,  was  the  slowest  rate  at 
which  we  traveled  that  day.  We  felt  the  effects  of  our 
march  all  that  night  and  the  following  day;  in  fact,  the 
muscles  of  my  legs  were  so  stiff  and  cramped  that  it  was 


ALMOST  LOST  IN  THE  SNOW 


377 


impossible  to  sleep.  I  bathed  them  in  strong  cayenne 
pepper  tea,  or  I  should  have  suffered  much  more  than  I 
did. 

Mr.  Rea  and  Sousie  each  drove  a  train  of  four  dogs, 
and  I  did  the  tripping  ahead.  I  felt  perfectly  safe,  know- 
ing that  by  going  far  enough  south,  then  turning  west- 
ward, we  were  sure  to  strike  one  of  the  great  lakes,  or  the 
river  between,  which  was  partly  open  water,  and  we  could 
not  get  lost, —  which  would  have  been  the  case  had  it  been 
frozen  over  and  covered  with  snow.  The  great  worry  was 
that  our  wood  had  nearly  been  exhausted,  and  we  must 
have  something  to  melt  snow  or  die  of  thirst. 

Sousie  kept  urging  me  to  lead  off  westward,  but  I  would 
sway  to  the  southwest  in  spite  of  his  protestations.  I  was 
sure  if  we  went  west,  we  should  leave  Clinton  Golden  lake 
to  the  south  of  us  and  surely  perish,  as  no  wood  could  be 
found  for  two  hundred  miles  in  that  direction.  On  the 
morning  of  the  11th  Sousie  became  furious,  and  fairly 
danced  with  anger,  because  I  would  not  lead  where  he  di- 
rected. I  felt  quite  safe  then  in  going  more  to  the  west- 
ward, and  at  noon  noticed  a  long  mark  on  the  crust  where 
the  wind  had  cleared  the  new  snow  from  the  old.  By  care- 
ful inspection  I  could  plainly  see  the  imprint  of  our  dogs' 
toenails,  and  the  long  mark  was  that  of  one  of  our  sleds. 
It  was  our  old  trail,  and  we  discovered  it  by  the  merest 
accident.  We  might  have  crossed  at  a  hundred  other 
places  and  should  never  have  noticed  the  fact. 

By  taking  exactly  the  direction  whence  it  came,  we  oc- 
casionally saw  some  mark  or  scratch,  and  its  course  was 
followed  up  for  several  hours.  Finally  Sousie  recognized 
a  stone  laid  by  him  on  top  of  another,  seven  snows  (years) 
previously.  Then  he  was  happy,  and  pointed  nearly  south, 
exclaiming,  "  Ditchen  !  ditchen  !  "  (timber.)  In  about 
three  hours  we  came  in  sight  of  the  "  land  of  little  sticks," 
where  we  had  our  first  wolf-hunt.  Luckily,  I  trusted  more 
to  my  compass  than  I  did  to  Sousie.   Had  we  taken  a  west- 


378 


FORTY  YEARS  OF  ADVENTURES 


wardly  course  the  previous  day,  we  should  have  gone  far 
to  the  north  of  Clinton  Golden  lake,  and  should  have  per- 
ished. 

The  first  bush  I  came  to,  I  cut  for  a  cane.  I  still  have 
the  cane,  and  prize  it  very  highly  as  a  souvenir.  It  was 
a  green  spruce,  about  four  feet  high.  I  counted  the  years 
it  had  been  growing  by  its  rings  of  knots,  and  they  num- 
bered thirty-eight. 

To  say  that  we  were  rejoiced  once  more,  does  not  express 
our  emotions  in  the  slightest  degree.  We  quickly  cooked 
our  meat,  as  meat  was  all  we  had,  and  then  continued 
fifteen  miles  farther,  to  Artillery  lake,  where  we  camped 
for  the  night.  Here  we  made  known  to  Sousie  that  our 
hunt  was  not  ended  —  only  commenced;  that  we  would 
pull  a  little  farther  down  the  lake  on  the  morrow,  get 
some  good  dry  wood  and  then  go  to  the  northeast  for 
musk-ox.  Sousie's  eyes  rolled  in  their  sockets,  for  the 
Indians  all  believe  that  if  any  musk-ox  is  taken  out  alive, 
all  other  animals  will  follow.  They  also  worship  the 
musk-ox  as  a  god,  believing  it  an  unrighteous  act  to  catch 
them  or  dispose  of  them  in  any  way  except  to  shoot  them. 
They  talk  to  them  as  if  they  were  human  beings. 

Sousie  looked  wild  and  perplexed.  He  said:  "Why, 
0  white  man  with  long  legs,  why  do  you  wish  again  to 
freeze,  and  be  devoured  by  wolves  ?  Have  you  not  al- 
ready killed  more  and  larger  musk-oxen  than  any  of  your 
family  who  ever  hunted  them  in  this  far-away  country  ? 
You  have  already  left  three  heads  and  as  many  hides  to 
be  eaten  by  the  wolves.  The  Great  Spirit  don't  approve 
of  that  kind  of  work.  I  told  a  lie  already  for  you,  as  the 
musk-oxen  understood  me  that  we  would  only  kill  what 
we  needed,  and  I  can't  fool  any  more  that  way." 

He  was  much  distressed  over  our  intentions,  and  he 
would  say  no  more,  except  "  Nazzula !  Nazzula!"  ("no 
good  "  or  u  awful  bad  ").  We  gave  him  our  ultimatum, 
a*nd  he  knew  there  was  no  use  to  protest.  He  could  speak 
a  few  words  of  English,  and  we  had  learned  the  language 


THE  GUIDE  REFUSES  TO  GO  FARTHER 


379 


of  the  Slave  tribe  very  well ;  so  that  with  signs  and  words, 
both  of  which  he  understood,  and  the  English  language 
together,  we  could  understand  and  make  known  to  Sousie 
any  ordinary  subject.  He  was  quick-witted,  and  '  'caught 
on  "  without  difficulty.  Next  day  we  pulled  to  the  tim- 
ber, and  Sousie  said  he  must  go  home:  "  Jackwee  bur 
hula  "  1  ("  squaw-meat  none 

We  could  not  prevail  on  him  to  go  a  step  with  us.  We 
were  now  far  south  of  the  arctic  wolf  range,  and  his 
courage  came  back  to  him.  We  did  succeed  in  persuad- 
ing him  to  take  our  musk-ox  heads,  wolf -scalps  and  other 
trophies  to  our  cabin,  thus  relieving  our  fatigued  dogs 
of  a  great  burden.  We  ate  dinner  together,  after  which 
Sousie  started  down  the  lake,  and  we  went  northeast. 

1  In  all  the  words  of  the  Slave  language  with  which  I  am  familiar,  the  accent  is 
placed  on  the  ultimate,  which  gives  a  sad  intonation.  Their  language  comprises  very 
few  words,  and  upon  the  emphasis  depends  the  meaning.  For  instance,  a  word  mean- 
ing a  short  distance  will  be  soft,  without  any  accent ;  while  if  meaning  farther  away, 
the  same  word  is  accentuated,— so  that  by  varying  the  accent,  all  known  degrees 
of  distance  may  be  conveyed  by  the  same  word. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

COLONEL    JONES    AND    JOHN   R.    REA    START    FOR  CHESTER- 
FIELD INLET,    NEAR    THE    MAGNET    POLE,    ALONE  MEET 

A    BAND    OF    ESKIMOS    ON    DOOBAUNT    RIVER  —  DISCOVER 

YOUNG   MUSK-OX   NEAR    THE    ARCTIC  OCEAN  SHOOT  ALL 

BUT    THE    CALVES  FIVE    ARE    LASSOED  — "  WILD  WEST 

SHOW"  IN  THE  FROZEN  ZONE — WOLVES  DEVOUR  A  SHEP- 
HERD DOG  MAKE  NIGHT  HIDEOUS  A  START  FOR  HOME 

 POOR  PROGRESS  ANOTHER  NIGHT  OF  DREAD  —  CAR- 
TRIDGES GIVE  OUT,  AND  DESTRUCTION  BY  WOLVES  SEEMS 

IMMINENT  TOILING    WITH    THE    CAPTIVES    BY    DAY  AND 

FIGHTING    THE    ARCTIC    WOLVES    BY  NIGHT  INDIANS  OR 

ESKIMOS    CUT    THE    THROATS    OF    THE  MUSK-OXEN  WHILE 

THEIR    CAPTORS    ARE    SLEEPING  OBLIGED    TO  ABANDON 

THE    HUNT    FOR    LACK    OF     AMMUNITION  A  HUNDRED 

MILES    FROM    CABIN,  AND    OUT   OF  PROVISIONS  COLONEL 

JONES  FIRES  THE  LAST  CARTRIDGE  AND  KILLS  A  REIN- 
DEER A  HAPPY  NIGHT  —  REACH  THEIR    CABIN  HOME  IN 

DEPLORABLE  CONDITION. 

THE  first  night  after  parting  with  our  guide  we 
camped  near  a  small  clump  of  dry  sticks,  which 
saved  the  wood  we  were  hauling.  The  next  two 
days  we  traveled  east  by  northeast  through  a 
blinding  storm.  The  next  day  was  fair,  and  we  made 
good  time  until  about  noon,  when  we  struck  a  tributary 
of  the  Doobaunt  river,  and  found  plenty  of  wood.  We 
followed  the  stream  in  a  northeasterly  direction  until 
night,  and  camped  in  a  large  canon  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Doobaunt  proper,  just  north  of  the  lake  of  the  same 
name.  Here  were  dead  spruce  trees,  some  a  foot  in  diam- 
eter.   Next  day  we  found  the  river  trending  to  the  east, 

(  380) 


AN  INTERVIEW  WITH  ESKIMOS 


881 


and  abandoned  it  where  it  empties  into  Chesterfield  inlet, 
taking  a  northerly  direction. 

Just  before  leaving  the  river  we  came  to  a  camp  of  Es- 
kimos containing  twenty  men  and  three  women.  They 
were  dressed  entirely  in  furs,  and  looked  robust  and 
healthy.  I  supposed  they  were  Indians,  until  I  came  in 
close  proximity  to  them ;  but  when  I  saw  holes  in  the  un- 
der lips  of  the  men,  with  ivory  buttons  inserted,  I  knew 
they  were  not  Indians,  but  Eskimos.  I  attempted  to 
pass  around  them,  at  which  one  of  the  old  men  struck 
himself  on  the  breast  and  uttered  some  words  which  I  in- 
terpreted to  be,  "  Me  good  Indian !  "  He  had  evidently 
been  among  the  whalers  of  the  Arctic  ocean.  I  stopped, 
and  repeating  the  signal,  turned  toward  the  little  fire  they 
surrounded.  As  soon  as  Mr.  Rea  arrived  he  remarked, 
"  Well,  I  guess  we  have  run  into  a  hornet's  nest."  I  an- 
swered, "Yes,  no  doubt."  We  had  a  pot  of  tea  made, 
and  invited  them  to  drink,  and  to  eat  meat.  They  cer- 
tainly drank  tea,  but  touched  the  meat  lightly,  as  they 
had  an  abundance  of  their  own.  Apparently  they  seemed 
determined  to  drink  tea  all  the  afternoon ;  so,  to  rid  our- 
selves of  them,  we  gave  them  about  a  pound  of  it  and  a 
sheet-iron  bucket  to  boil  water  in.  This  seemingly  satis- 
fied them,  and  we  hastily  drove  away.  They  ran  after  us, 
but  we  paid  no  attention  to  their  chatter,  not  stopping 
until  late  at  night.  While  among  them  I  noticed  shot- 
guns and  a  few  small  breech-loading  English  rifles.  That 
evening  we  found  where  they  had  made  walls  of  blocks 
of  snow  to  shelter  them  from  the  piercing  storm  that  held 
us  so  close  to  our  teepee. 

On  the  16th  and  17th  we  passed  through  some  of  the 
most  rugged  and  God-forsaken  country  that  I  have  ever 
seen.  The  caribou  were  abundant,  and  we  never  lacked 
for  meat.  We  saw  a  few  jack-rabbits,  and  numberless 
wolves;  several  black  wolves  were  also  seen,  and  many 
tracks  of  the  arctic  fox,  but  that  animal  is  so  shy  we 
never  saw  one.    On  the  18th  we  saw  droppings  of  the 


382 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


musk-ox,  and  late  in  the  evening  saw  three  old  bulls,  but 
did  not  disturb  them. 

The  19th  came,  clear  and  warm.  Before  we  had  pro- 
ceeded three  miles  we  crossed  the  tracks  of  about  a  dozen 
musk-oxen,  made  that  morning.  We  halted,  and  Mr.  Rea 
followed  the  tracks,  soon  returning,  and  reported  the  herd 
just  ahead,  behind  a  large  peak  of  rocks.  We  took  our 
guns  and  slipped  up  closely  to  them ;  counted  six  cows, 
five  or  six  young  animals,  but  only  one  yearling,  and  as 
yearlings  were  as  large  an  animal  as  we  cared  to  tackle, 
we  rose  up  and  walked  directly  toward  them.  They  also 
advanced  to  meet  us,  approaching  so  close  we  could  see 
their  eyes  bulging  out,  not  to  exceed  seventy-five  yards 
away.  Finally  one  of  the  cows  gave  a  snort,  and  away 
all  went,  running  southward  against  the  wind. 

We  returned  to  our  sleds  without  shooting,  and  drove  to 
the  shelter  of  a  high  range  of  stone  a  mile  to  the  east  and 
went  into  camp,  deciding  to  circle  around  for  game. 
While  we  were  pitching  the  tent  our  shepherd  dogs  kept 
barking  and  trying  to  get  loose ;  (  we  always  kept  the 
shepherd  dogs  chained  to  the  sled.)  Finally  I  climbed 
to  the  crest  of  the  ridge,  and  there  stood,  or  rather  lay, 
a  herd  of  musk-oxen  just  beyond,  on  the  sunny  south 
slope.  And  now  we  knew  what  had  caused  the  dogs  so 
much  worry  —  they  had  scented  the  strange  beasts. 

I  saw  the  herd  contained  animals  of  all  sizes,  and  re- 
treated to  the  teepee  without  their  observing  me.  Mr. 
Rea  had  tea  boiling,  which  we  soon  hastily  drank,  and 
swallowed  our  dinner  of  meat.  We  then  opened  the  bag 
of  ropes,  swivels,  hobbles,  etc.,  and  put  them  in  shape. 
Our  lassos  were  swung  around  our  necks,  also  a  long 
half-inch  rope  intended  for  an  anchor-line.  Our  gun 
magazines  were  filled  with  cartridges ;  our  pockets  also : 
everything  was  now  ready.  When  we  reached  the  crest  of 
the  divide  I  must  confess  my  heart  beat  a  little  quicker 
than  usual  —  perhaps  owing  to  the  high  altitude,  or  from 
exhaustion  in  climbing  with  such  a  load  of  ropes,  guns, 
ammunition,  and  hobbles. 


AFTER  THE  HERD  OF  MUSK-OXEN 


383 


I  said  to  Mr.  Rea,  "  Let's  take  it  coolly,  and  have  a  lit- 
tle rest."    He  smiled,  and  said,  "All  right." 

I  had  supposed  he  would  get  very  much  excited,  not  hav- 
ing had  the  experience  of  myself  in  catching  buffalo  and 
other  wild  animals,  but  I  could  not  detect  in  him  a  mo- 
tion that  evinced  the  least  nervousness.  Long  before 
leaving  our  cabin  on  the  Great  Slave  lake  we  had  our 
plans  well  matured  as  to  the  manner  in  which  we  were  to 
capture  the  animals  we  were  after.  We  were  to  run  up 
to  within  a  hundred  yards  of  them,  under  cover  if  possi- 
ble, and  shoot  down  all  but  two  cows  and  the  yearlings. 
We  were  then  to  break  the  hind  legs  of  those  cows,  so  they 
could  not  run,  but  stay  and  fight.  We  expected  the  year- 
lings would  keep  close  to  their  mothers  until  we  could 
lasso  and  tie  every  one. 

There  were  in  the  herd  seven  cows,  two  two-year-olds, 
and  six  yearlings.  It  being  unlawful  to  hunt  musk-oxen 
with  dogs,  we  left  our  shepherds  tied  to  the  sleds;  the 
others  we  could  rely  upon  staying  with  them ;  of  course 
we  didn't  intend  to  violate  the  law!  My  shepherd  dogs 
knew  that  musk-oxen  were  near,  and  they  were  to  be 
cheated  out  of  a  very  good  time;  but  "Scrapper"  had 
made  up  his  dog's  mind  to  be  in  at  the  killing  if  possible. 
We  were  creeping  up  behind  some  rocks  for  final  position, 
when  to  our  surprise  five  dogs  went  thundering  past  after 
the  musk-oxen.  "Scrapper"  had  slipped  his  collar  and 
led  the  way;  all  the  others  not  tied  followed  at  his  heels. 

The  herd  rounded  up  close  together  at  first,  as  if  to 
fight  wolves,1  but  they  soon  separated,  and  escaped  from 
us,  excepting  two  cows,  a  two-year-old,  and  five  yearlings, 

1  Musk-oxen  always  move  in  herds  ;  very  seldom  is  one  seen  alone.  When  pursued 
by  wolves  they  invariably  form  in  a  circle,  heads  outward,  the  young  animals  instinct- 
ively taking  their  place  in  the  hollow  center,  remaining  there  until  all  danger  is 
past  and  the  formation  of  the  herd  broken  up.  The  Indians  assert  that  a  single  full- 
grown  musk-ox  can  defend  itself  against  any  number  of  wolves,  provided  it  finds  a  large 
rock  or  ridge  to  back  against.  I  very  much  doubt  the  statement.  They  never  depend 
upon  running  from  an  enemy  for  safety,  however.  Their  horns  are  very  long  and 
sharp,  formed  in  the  most  suitable  curves  for  defense,  and  are  so  massive,  and  set 
into  the  head  so  firmly,  that  no  force,  even  should  they  strike  a  rock,  could  knock  them 
loose  or  break  them  off. 


384 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


—  which  was  a  most  fortunate  division  for  us.  Our  plans 
were  carried  out  to  the  letter,  with  the  exception  of  shoot- 
ing under  cover  and  breaking  the  hind  legs  of  two  cows. 
We  both  shot,  when  one  cow  and  the  two-year-old  sank 
on  the  snow.  I  called  to  Mr.  Rea,  u  Break  the  hind  legs 
of  the  cow!  "  It  required  fine  shooting  to  do  it,  and  I 
knew  Mr.  Rea  was  the  best  shot ;  at  least  he  was  while  I 
was  obliged  to  wear  smoked  glasses,  as  I  had  a  slight 
touch  of  snow-blindness.  He  complied  with  my  request, 
and  at  the  second  shot  she  dropped  down  on  her  hock- 
joints,  a  fixed  object  instead  of  a  runaway.  True,  this 
was  cruel,  but  such  acts  are  always  pardonable  in  the 
interest  of  science.  My  lasso  was  soon  in  shape,  and  I 
moved  forward  to  take  the  little  ones  "  out  of  other  dan- 
gers into  which  they  might  fly."  The  pretty,  black, 
glossy  creatures  were  terribly  excited,  and  hovered  around 
the  old  cow  like  a  brood  of  goslings  around  a  fighting 
gander  when  danger  surrounds  them. 

When  I  arrived  at  throwing  distance  one  yearling  stood 
alongside  the  old  cow,  his  head  close  to  hers.  I  whirled 
the  noose,  in  the  air  till  it  fairly  hissed,  and  let  it  fly  for 
the  prize.  The  rope  went  fairly  well  to  the  mark,  but  a 
little  too  far,  and  hooked  over  the  point  of  the  old  cow's 
right  horn,  where  it  hung  up.  The  little  dog  was  biting 
at  the  heels  of  the  animals,  which  kept  them  twisting 
around  in  all  directions,  while  our  sled-dogs  stood  in 
front  of  the  old  cow,  keeping  up  such  a  continual  bark- 
ing that  it  held  her  steadfast  facing  them. 

I  paused  a  moment;  just  then  "  Scrapper  "  nipped  the 
heels  of  the  yearling  that  I  was  after,  which  caused  it  to 
make  a  bound  forward  right  into  the  loop,  knocking  it 
from  the  cow's  horn,  when  with  a  quick  jerk  I  fastened  it 
safely  around  its  neck. 

Mr.  Rea  was  on  hand,  and  we.  commenced  to  pull  the 
rascal  in,  in  about  the  same  style  as  if  there  were  a  hun- 
dred-pound trout  at  the  end  of  our  line.  Now  came  the 
danger  of  the  others  escaping,  as  all  the  dogs  left  the  old 


LASSOOING  MUSK-OX  CALVES 


385 


cow  and  made  for  the  animal  we  had  caught,  as  we  antici- 
pated they  would ;  and  for  that  reason  we  had  spiked  the 
old  cow  to  the  very  earth  by  breaking  her  legs.  She  made 
several  lunges  in  her  frantic  effort  to  escape,  but  finding 
she  was  doomed,  she  suddenly  stood  still. 

The  other  four  yearlings,  relying  entirely  on  her  gener- 
alship, waited  and  lingered  with  her.  We  drove  the  dogs 
off  as  quickly  as  possible,  but  not  until  they  had  made 
several  bleeding  wounds  on  the  legs  of  the  one  we  had  on 
the  line. 

Mr.  Rea  held  the  rope  while  I  threw  a  lasso  on  one  of 
the  animal's  hind  legs,  by  means  of  which  we  soon 
stretched  the  stubborn  little  brute  on  the  snow.  We  has- 
tily tied  all  four  legs  together  in  the  same  style  I  used  to 
tie  a  hog  when  a  boy  on  my  father's  farm.  Then  I  took 
the  lasso  and  walked  up  until  quite  close,  and  as  soon  as 
one  of  the  yearlings  came  darting  around  the  cow,  I  gave 
my  rope  a  whirl  and  threw  it  over  another,  but  the  little 
beast  went  right  through  the  loop,  excepting  its  hind  legs. 
By  a  quick  pull  I  caught  it  just  above  the  ankles,  and 
soon  pulled  it  out  in  sled  fashion.  The  dogs  did  not 
trouble  it  much,  as  they  had  learned  in  the  melee  with 
the  first  one  caught  what  was  expected  of  them. 

One  by  one  we  dragged  the  little  beauties  out  and  tied 
them,  until  we  had  four  safely  in  the  toils.  I  was  so 
nearly  exhausted  that  I  could  scarcely  stand,  and  the 
dogs  were  making  things  "  red  hot"  for  the  last  yearling. 
Sometimes  it  would  be  fighting  them ;  sometimes  running 
around  the  old  cow,  becoming  so  frisky  that  I  made  sev- 
eral throws  at  it,  but  missed.  Finally  Scrapper  nipped  it 
so  sharply,  it  sought  other  protection,  and  came  bound- 
ing over  to  me.  I  was  sure  it  had  selected  me  to  take 
vengeance  on,  and  made  ready  to  jump  aside  to  let  it  pass, 
but  it  ran  to  my  left  side,  and  as  it  did  so  I  whirled 
around  and  laid  the  noose  over  its  head  without  throwing 
it  at  all. 

As  soon  as  it  winded  me,  it  darted  toward  the  old  cow, 
—  25 


386 


FORTY  YEARS    OF  ADVENTURES 


jerking  me  headlong  in  the  snow ;  but  the  dogs  were  after 
it, —  so  it  came  bounding  back.  Mr.  Rea  grabbed  it  as  it 
endeavored  to  pass  between  us,  and  threw  it.  I  was  soon 
on  its  neck;  its  legs  were  quickly  bound,  like  the  others. 
Our  dogs  were  then  whipped  off  and  made  to  lie  down. 
I  was  completely  exhausted,  and  was  obliged  to  ask  Mr. 
Rea  to  go  to  the  camp,  half  a  mile  away,  and  bring  some 
water.  He  brought  a  small  pail  of  cold  tea,  which  re- 
vived me  very  much.  Before  leaving  for  the  tea,  however, 
he  put  an  end  to  the  cow's  misery  by  sending  a  ball 
through  her  vitals. 

We  had  not  taken  time  to  size  the  animals  up,  and  it 
was  a  very  interesting  hour  of  my  life,  when  I  could 
quietly  stand  and  see  every  twinkle  of  their  eyes.  The 
long  shaggy  fleece  that  covered  the  little  creatures  was  of 
a  browner  color  than  that  on  the  old  bulls.  They  looked 
more  like  doll  animals  than  like  real  live  musk-oxen. 
Their,  short  legs  made  me  liken  them  to  a  little  Shet- 
land pony  colt,  as  compared  with  a  race-horse.  They  had 
a  tuft  of  long  hair  on  the  shoulders  and  also  on  their 
necks.  The  males  had  small  sharp  horns  that  pointed 
straight  out  from  the  side  of  the  head  and  protruded 
about  an  inch  through  the  thick  mat  of  hair ;  while  the 
females'  horns  were  not  visible  at  all,  yet  could  be  felt 
beneath  the  clump  of  hair.  Though  they  seemed  dimin- 
utive, they  were  deceiving  in  size  and  the  weight  of  their 
bodies.  I  had  seen  several  of  different  ages,  mounted  in 
museums  ;  but  it  is  evident  the  taxidermist  never  had  seen 
one  alive,  or  these  specimens  would  have  been  filled  out 
more  plumply,  and  their  bodies  taken  almost  exactly  the 
shape  of  a  barrel.  The  very  little  nutrition  contained  in 
the  moss  compels  them  to  gorge  themselves  until  they 
have  assumed  an  abnormal  shape.  These  we  captured 
really  resembled  a  domestic  yearling  calf  in  the  spring- 
time, that  has  been  wintered  at  a  straws  tack. 

We  now  commenced  to  gather  up  the  captives.  We  first 
took  our  long  hemp  rope,  and  tied  five  loops  in  it  about 


ATTACKED   BY  WOLVES 


387 


twelve  feet  apart ;  we  then  fastened  each  end  of  this  rope 
to  large  rocks,  and  drew  it  quite  tightly.  From  the  loops 
a  small  rope  was  attached,  at  the  end  of  which  was  a 
swivel,  which  in  turn  was  fastened  to  the  small  rope 
around  the  animal's  neck,  in  order  to  prevent  tangling, 
or  choking  to  death.  While  marching  our  yearlings  up  to 
the  anchor-line,  we  loosened  only  two  of  their  legs,  but 
when  they  were  securely  fastened  to  it,  gave  them  the  free- 
dom of  all  their  limbs,  and  the  way  they  made  the  long  line 
jerk  and  whirl  for  an  hour  or  more  was  amusing.  It  was 
so  long,  however,  that  it  relaxed  at  every  surge  of  the  ani- 
mals, thus  preventing  the  possibility  of  injuring,  that 
would  have  otherwise  occurred,  as  it  yielded  to  every 
effort  in  their  attempt  to  escape.  I  had  handled  buffalo 
so  often  that  my  premeditated  plans  for  the  capture  of 
musk-oxen  were  very  easy  for  us  to  put  into  execution. 

We  moved  our  teepee  over  to  the  south  side  of  the  hill, 
within  about  a  hundred  feet  of  one  end  of  the  anchor- 
line,  and  watched  the  frisky  little  captives  endeavoring  to 
regain  their  freedom,  until  the  sun  had  sunk  in  the  west. 

No  sooner  had  the  king  of  day  passed  beyond  our  vi- 
sion, than  we  heard  a  pack  of  wolves  just  over  the  ridge. 
We  knew  what  it  meant — -no  sleep  for  us  that  night.  As 
there  was  plenty  of  meat  lying  a  little  to  the  southeast  of 
us,  we  had  hoped  they  would  be  content  to  let  us  alone. 
Not  so,  however.  It  appeared  as  if  they  had  not  found 
the  carcasses  of  animals  we  had  killed,  but  drew  nearer 
and  nearer  our  little  live  ones,  evidently  wanting  meat 
they  had  themselves  killed. 

As  night  advanced,  the  ravenous  messengers  of  death 
came  on.  Our  dogs  were  loosened  upon  the  supposition 
they  would  be  in  no  danger  as  long  as  we  remained  out- 
side with  them,  but  little  "  Scrapper,"  one  of  our  best 
shepherd  heelers,  anxious  to  measure  his  strength  with 
them,  dashed  over  the  divide  after  one,  where  he  had  a 
V  scrap"  that  the  poor  fellow  hardly  anticipated;  that 
was  the  last  we  ever  saw  of  him.    Doubtless  he  was  de- 


388 


FORTY  YEARS  OF  ADVENTURES 


voured  in  a  minute  by  the  pack  we  knew  he  had  encoun- 
tered. 

It  was  warm  and  pleasant  that  evening,  compared  with 
others  we  had  experienced ;  so  I  took  my  stand  at  the  end 
of  the  rope  farthest  from  our  teepee;  Mr.  Rea  at  the 
other.  We  both  had  our  guns  and  plenty  of  cartridges, 
and  one  by  one  we  rolled  the  white  monsters  over  as  they 
appeared.  We  never  pretended  to  shoot  when  they  were 
more  than  forty  yards  away.  Sometimes  they  would 
come  singly,  then  in  howling  groups,  two  to  a  dozen  in 
the  pack. 

All  night  long  —  about  nine  hours  of  darkness  —  the 
crazy  fools  would  trot  up  to  be  slaughtered ;  most  of  them 
running  as  soon  as  shot,  unless  we  put  a  hall  in  their  head 
or  breast.  Those  wounded  would  drag  themselves  away, 
to  be  instantly  devoured  by  the  others.  When  morning 
came  they  were  just  as  numerous  as  during  the  night,  and 
the  sun  was  high  in  the  heavens  before  they  commenced 
to  skulk  away  or  attempt  to  get  under  cover.  About 
noon  we  determined  to  try  to  get  out  of  the  horrid  place. 
We  had  killed  twelve  wolves  outright,  and  twice  as  many 
more,  wounded,  had  gone  off,  to  be  devoured  by  their 
companions. 

We  tied-  one  end  of  our  anchor-line  to  the  carryall,  I 
walking  behind,  holding  the  other.  We  set  our  only 
shepherd  dog  at  heeling  the  yearlings  up,  as  they  were 
very  stubborn  at  first,  refusing  to  be  led;  but  within 
an  hour  we  succeeded  in  cooling  them  down  somewhat. 
We  fixed  hackimos1  in  the  mouths  of  our  animals,  so  they 
could  not  pull  very  hard  on  the  line,  which  saved  me 
many  upsets. 

The  day  was  warm,  the  snow  melting  rapidly,  with  the 
thermometer  registering  forty-eight  degrees  above  zero  at 
noon.    We  set  our  compass,  marked  our  line  of  retreat, 

1  Hackimo,  a  headstall  made  with  the  rope  after  one  end  is  fastened  around  the 
neck,  so  that  it  passes  through  the  animal's  mouth,  whereby  it  can  be  held  with  but 
little  effort. 


THE  RETURN  TO  THE  CABIN 


389 


and  started  off,  desiring  to  get  along  as  fast  as  possible, 
as  it  was  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  before  we  got  fairly 
under  way. 

When  the  start  was  made,  some  of  the  animals  pulled 
back  on  their  haunches  and  stopped  the  whole  train.  At 
this  juncture  all  I 'had  to  do  was  to  point  my  finger  at  the 
refractory  animal,  when  Don  would  fly  at  them,  nipping 
their  heels,  at  which  they  would  take  a  spurt  forward  and 
I  be  pitched  headlong  in  the  sloppy  snow;  then  they 
would  change  ends  in  order  to  fight  the  dog.  Sometimes 
the  animals  would  become  tangled  in  the  line ;  the  hind 
one  in  front  and  the  front  one  behind.  It  was  certainly 
discouraging.  If  we  undertook  to  untangle  them  we  were 
sure  to  receive  a  butt  or  two  that  would  send  us  rolling 
over  and  over.  My  shins  that  night  were  "as  black  as 
the  ace  of  spades." 

Musk-oxen  are  unlike  the  buffalo  in  one  respect :  that 
is,  they  do  not  kick  like  a  mule,  while  the  buffalo  kicks 
like  two  mules  —  only  much  harder  and  oftener.  The 
cows  are  of  about  the  size  of  a  thorough-bred  Jersey,  but 
not  so  tall.  Their  legs  are  so  short,  they  look  as  if  stand- 
ing on  their  knees.  They  have  four  teats  like  a  cow,  but 
they  are  short;  have  a  round,  compact  udder.  They  ap- 
parently drop  their  calves  about  the  middle  of  May. 

We  went  into  camp  the  first  night  of  our  homeward 
journey  about  three  miles  from  where  we  caught  our  ani- 
mals. The  wolves  appeared,  and  were  as  numerous  as  on 
the  night  previous;  indeed,  more  so.  They  were  deter- 
mined, apparently,  to  have  dog,  musk-ox,  or  human  flesh : 
sometimes  it  seemed  they  would  get  all.  Our  ammuni- 
tion getting  scarce ;  we  did  not  dare  waste  a  single  shot. 
We  were  compelled  to  employ  our  dogs  to  help  start  the 
ravenous  group  off,  but  they  soon  tired  out,  and  skulked 
back  to  the  tent.  We  threw  stones,  and  even  resorted  to 
clubs  as  weapons,  taken  from  our  wood  supply.  We  shot 
only  the  foremost  one  of  the  pack,  which  was  always  an  old 
white  male.    If  we  drew  blood  on  one,  it  retreated  to  the 


390 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


main  pack  in  the  rear,  where  it  was  instantly  devoured 
without  ceremony  —  every  morsel  eaten  excepting  the 
skull  and  skin. 

When  morning  arrived  we  again  started  on  our  home- 
ward march.  All  that  we  had  taught  our  musk-oxen  on 
the  day  previous  we  discovered  to  our  disgust  had  been 
forgotten,  and  that  they  possessed  more  "cussedness" 
than  we  had  imagined  possible.  They  were  as  bad,  if  not 
worse,  than  when  we  first  broke  camp.  All  of  them  were 
gaunt,  not  having  eaten  anything  since  their  capture ;  at 
which  we  felt  alarmed,  fearing  they  would  refuse  to  eat, 
and  die.  We  worked  carefully  with  them  until  about  ten 
o'clock,  then  pitched  our  tent;'  and  as  there  were  no 
wolves  bothering,  we  laid  down  and  slept  soundly  till 
awakened  by  the  barking  of  our  dogs.  On  looking  out, 
there  stood  a  herd  of  reindeer  not  two  hundred  yards 
away ;  apparently  inspecting  the  small  herd  of  musk-oxen 
and  dogs,  as  well  as  our  tent.  Our  dogs  were  as  much 
worn  out  as  ourselves, —  so  much  so  that  they  hardly 
knew  whether  to  run  out  and  catch  a  deer  or  not,  after 
we  had  broken  both  of  its  fore  legs.  We  secured  two  fine 
fat  animals,  and,  after  dressing  and  taking  the  best  part, 
gave  the  dogs  all  they  wanted,  and  proceeded  on  our 
journey.  We  made  fully  ten  miles  that  day,  and  felt  en- 
couraged. When  we  stopped  and  anchored  the  animals, 
two  of  them  commenced  to  paw  up  the  moss  and  grass, 
and  ate  freely.  We  felt  highly  elated,  as  almost  the  last 
cause  of  fear  had  been  cleared  away.  The  wolves  were 
prowling  around  on  all  sides.  That  night  was  a  repeti- 
tion of  the  two  previous  nights. 

To  our  delight,  we  noticed  all  the  musk-oxen  diligently 
pawing  up  the  moss  and  eating  it,  excepting  the  first  one 
we  had  caught.  It  appeared  stiff  and  sore  from  the  wounds 
made  by  the  dogs.  As  soon  at  daylight  arrived,  we  struck 
our  tent  and  continued  the  journey,  swinging  a  little  more 
to  the  south,  as  it  was  evident  we  must  procure  another 
supply  of  wood  before  crossing  the  divide  between  the 
Doobaunt  river  and  the  great  lakes. 


MUSK-OXEN  KILLED  BY  MARAUDERS  391 

We  again  slept  during  the  middle  of  the  day,  and  about 
three  o'clock  started  on  our  journey.  We  reeled  off  from 
fifteen  to  eighteen  miles  during  the  day,  and  had  the 
yearlings  so  subdued  that  they  gave  us  much  less  trouble 
than  on  the  previous  days.  The  day  had  been  dark  and 
cloudy,  and  the  wolves  appeared  much  earlier  than  on  the 
days  previous,  having  no  doubt  followed  us  from  the  last 
camp.  We  did  not  have  more  than  a  dozen  cartridges 
left,  and  depended  upon  our  guns  alone  for  meat  for  our- 
selves and  dogs.  The  situation  began  to  look  serious. 
Our  bread  had  been  all  gone  for  two  weeks.  We  battled 
all  night  with  the  wolves  and  managed  to  keep  them 
"from  the  door,"  and  from  devouring  our  animals.  The 
weather  turned  quite  warm  during  the  night:  we  were 
having  an  old-fashioned  January  thaw,  and  all  the  musk- 
oxen  worked  diligently  filling  themselves  with  such  prov- 
ender as  they  could  paw  out.  The  wounded  one  appeared 
convalescent  and  refreshed.  We  had  secured  two  bulls 
mid  three  heifers,  and  were  now  in  high  spirits  over  our 
golden  prize;  yet  dreaded  our  possible  fate,  on  account  of 
the  constant  pursuit  of  the  wolves  and  our  short  supply 
of  cartridges. 

We  were  off  early  that  morning,  bearing  directly  south 
for  Doobaunt  river,  as  only  a  few  sticks  of  wood  were  left 
with  which  to  cook  meat,  and  to  melt  snow  for  water  to 
quench  our  thirst  and  refresh  our  exhausted  bodies.  We 
expected  certainly  to  reach  timber  the  next  day.  About 
eleven  o'clock  we  halted,  having  worried  along  fully  ten 
miles  that  morning.  Here,  after  taking  a  slight  lunch 
and  drinking  cold  tea  that  we  carried  in  a  rubber  bag  ( the 
life  preserver  I  bought  at  Edmonton),  we  rolled  up  in 
our  blankets,  and  I  was  soon  dreaming  of  my  far-away 
sunny  home  in  Oklahoma.  About  three  o'clock  Mr.  Rea 
woke  up  and  went  out  to  look  after  our  animals.  He  re- 
turned, and  said,  "Jones,  we  are  ruined!  some  one  has 
killed  all  our  musk-oxen.  They  have  cut  their  throats  I  " 
I  awoke  from  my  happy  dreams,  and  thought  him  only 


392  FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 

joking.  I  raised  the  side  of  the  tent,  looked  out,  and  saw 
it  was  too  true !  Then  my  heart  that  had  been  throbbing 
so  buoyantly  with  joy  in  the  past  few  days  sank  within 
me ;  a  dizziness  seemed  to  come  over  me,  and  I  fell  back 
on  my  blankets  and  was  soon  lost  in  a  deep  slumber.  Mr. 
Rea  said  afterwards,  it  was  quite  difficult  to  arouse  me 
again. 

We  went  out  and  inspected  the  situation  of  affairs. 
There  had  been  twelve  or  fifteen  Eskimos  or  Indians  there 
on  snowshoes,  and  they  had  cut  the  throats  of  all  of  our 
animals,  leaving  them  lying  dead  with  the  ropes  around 
their  necks.  We  had  only  one  dog  (  Don)  left  that  would 
bark  at  the  appearance  of  Indians,  and  he  was  so  badly 
mangled  by  the  wolves  he  could  scarcely  heel  up  the  ani- 
mals on  the  marches,  and  we  had  allowed  him  a  caribou- 
skin  inside  the  tent  to  sleep  on.  Had  he  been  outside, 
doubtless  he  would  have  given  the  alarm,  and  we  would 
have  saved  the  yearlings,  or  shared  their  fate  ourselves. 
The  marauders  left  a  peculiar-looking  knife  on  the  snow 
near  the  animals,  having  a  handle  about  eighteen  inches 
long,  made  of  caribou  or  some  other  animal's  rib,  or  tusk, 
with  a  blade  four  inches  long,  riveted  to  the  large  end  of 
the  bone.  If  we  had  known  whether  this  knife-handle  was 
from  a  land  or  sea  animal,  I  could  have  decided  who  had 
committed  the  dastardly  deed  —  Indians  or  Eskimos.  If 
it  belonged  to  a  sea  animal,  it  would  implicate  the  Eski- 
mos; if  to  a  caribou,  morie  than  likely  the  Indians. 

We  followed  the  snowshoe-tracks  for  nearly  four  miles, 
and  discovered  that  the  party  had  been  following  our  trail, 
and  had  retreated  by  the  same  route.  We  returned  to 
our  camp  sad  and  weary,  not  able  to  tell  if  they  were  Es- 
kimos or  Indians.  Apparently  we  were  on  the  neutral 
grounds  between  the  hunting-fields  of  these  two  savage 
tribes.  We  had  been  warned  time  and  time  again  by  the 
Indians  not  to  take  any  musk-oxen  alive,  but  had  paid  no 
attention  to  them,  as  we  were  well  armed,  and  knew  they 
were  cowardly  and  dare  not  open  fire  on  us.   We  expected 


HOPE  OF  SECURING  LIVE  MUSK-OXEN  ABANDONED  393 

to  guard  our  animals  day  and  night  while  passing  through 
the  enemy's  country.  It  did  not  enter  our  minds  that 
there  was  an  Indian  within  two  hundred  miles  of  us,  and 
we  did  not  suspect  the  Eskimos  of  such  treachery.  We 
were  so  worn  out  and  depressed  in  spirits  that  we  rolled 
up  in  our  blankets  and  slept  until  night  was  fully  on, 
when  we  were  awakened  by  the  dogs  barking  and  running 
around  the  teepee,  occasionally  screaming  as  though  they 
were  being  devoured.  We  soon  saw  the  wolves  were  clos- 
ing in  on  them,  and  called  all  the  dogs  into  the  teepee. 
Then  we  took  turns  in  keeping  watch,  in  fear  of  being 
destroyed,  as  we  had  no  cartridges  to  waste. 

When  morning  arrived  we  unloaded  everything  we  could 
possibly  spare ;  threw  away  all  we  had  left  of  the  sack  of 
ropes,  swivels,  hobbles,  etc.,  as  well  as  a  small  sack  of 
salt  and  other  unnecessary  burdens.  Before  leaving  the 
dead  animals  we  went  out,  hoping  to  save  one  or  two  of 
the  heads  for  mounting,  but  found  the  wolves  had  de- 
voured everything,  excepting  the  hair,  which  convinced 
us  they  must  have  been  desperately  hungry.  We  had 
been  so  worried  and  perplexed  the  day  before,  that  it 
never  occurred  to  us  that  we  would  want  to  see  even  any 
part  of  the  remains  of  our  dead  animals. 

We  abandoned  all  hope  of  securing  even  a  single  live 
musk-ox.  We  would  have  returned  to  their  haunts  and 
tried  again,  but  knew  that  such  action  would  be  suicidal, 
as  our  ammunition  was  almost  gone,  and  it  was  a  serious 
question  whether  we.  could  reach  our  cabin  without  taking 
great  chances  of  starvation. 

So,  with  sad  hearts  and  profound  regrets,  we  relin- 
quished all  our  high  hopes,  and  turned  our  faces  south- 
ward. 

The  snow  was  melting  rapidly,  and  we  were  obliged  to 
pull  across  the  ridges  on  bare  rocks.  The  sledding  was 
good  on  the  little  valleys  and  lakes,  which  cover  about 
one-fourth  of  the  whole  area  of  the  country. 

We  reached  a  canon  of  Doobaunt  river  that  evening, 


394 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


and  supplied  ourselves  with  enough  dry  wood  to  last  dur- 
ing several  days  while  resting,  and  for  the  three-days 
journey  to  Artillery  lake.  The  wolves  were  not  nearly  as 
numerous  after  we  lost  our  musk-oxen.  They  had  doubt- 
less been  attracted  by  them,  and  as  we  had  traveled  slowly 
they  followed  us,  and  probably  were  joined  by  others 
every  day.  We  killed  plenty  of  meat  at  the  canon  where 
we  found  wood,  and  finally  made  a  bee  line  for  Artillery 
lake.  When  we  reached  the  latter  place,  I  had  just  one 
cartridge  left  in  the  magazine  of  my  gun.  We  had  barely 
meat  enough  for  supper,  and  there  was  yet  a  three-days 
journey  ahead.  The  great  herd  of  reindeer  had  already 
passed  to  the  north,  and  only  occasionally  could  we  see  a 
stray  one,  and  they  were  very  shy. 

We  had  directed  our  course  so  accurately  that  we  struck 
Artillery  lake  about  two  miles  north  of  where  we  had  left 
it.  When  nearly  down  the  divide,  two  reindeer  ran  out  of  a 
draw  ahead  of  us,  and  circled  around  to  the  north.  They 
came  within  about  four  hundred  yards,  and  one  stopped 
nearly  facing  us.  I  had  my  gun  ready,  and  no  sooner  had 
it  halted  than  I  had  "a  bead"  on  it.  Mr.  Rea  shouted, 
" Shoot  the  other  one!  It  stands  broadside  to  us;"  but  I 
did  not  see  4 'the  other  one,"  and  was  determined  not  to 
give  up  my  chance,  to  look  for  it.  This  wras  our  only 
hope.  If  ever  I  took  aim  carefully  and  held  my  rifle  with 
a  steady  nerve,  it  was  then.  I  judged  the  distance  quickly, 
knowing  the  animal  would  pause  but  a  moment  and  then 
be  gone.  I  elevated  my  gun  about  four  inches  above  the 
top  of  his  shoulders,  and  touched  the  trigger.  "  Bang!" 
went  the  gun.  A  puff  of  smoke,  the  recoil  of  my  Win- 
chester, and  at  almost  the  same  instant  the  sound  of  a 
sudden  4 'spat"  reached  my  ears,  which  assured  me  that 
the  deadly  bullet  had  been  well  directed.  As  the  smoke 
cleared  away,  I  saw  the  coveted  prize  lying  on  the  snow, 
and  the  4 'other  one"  flying  northward. 

"Thanks!  thanks!  my  worthy  friend,"  sang  out  Mr. 
Rea,  from  where  he  stood. 


ARKIVAL  AT  THE  CABIN 


395 


We  went  to  where  the  dead  deer  was  lying,  and  upon 
examination,  found  the  ball  had  hit  exactly  where  I  in- 
tended, at  the  point  of  the  shoulder,  coming  out  on  the 
other  side  near  the  flank,  having  pierced  the  animal's 
vitals.  We  were  almost  overjoyed  at  our  good  fortune  in 
having  secured  such  a  magnificent  doe.  It  lasted  us  and 
the  dogs  until  we  reached  our  cabin,  where  we  had  left 
an  abundance  of  dry  meat.  We  journeyed  down  the 
canon,  where  there  was  plenty  of  wood,  and  enjoyed  a 
royal  feast. 

The  next  day  we  reached  Artillery  lake,  where  we  found 
fine  sledding  until  we  arrived  at  the  portage  which  car- 
ried us  over  to  Great  Slave  lake.  The  country  there  was 
almost  bare  ground,  and  we  had  about  thirty  miles  to  lug 
our  sled  across.  We  were  obliged  to  pull  along  with  the 
dogs  in  order  to  make  any  progress  whatever ;  some  days 
we  did  not  exceed  ten  miles.  But  we  worried  along,  and 
finally  reached  the  cabin  on  the  afternoon  of  the  10th  of 
April,  having  been  absent  forty-four  days,  traveling  on 
an  average  not  less  than  twenty-five  miles  per  day, 
through  storms  and  blizzards,  over  ice,  rocks,  and  plains ; 
making  in  all  fully  thirty-nine  days'  travel,  or  a  distance 
of  975  miles,  on  snowshoes.  So  the  reader  must  concede 
that  we  had  a  foretaste,  at  least,  of  real  Arctic  exploring. 

When  we  reached  the  low  altitude  of  the  Great  Slave 
lake,  nearly  all  the  snow  had  disappeared ;  the  birds  were 
singing  as  sweetly  and  warbling  their  carols  as  joyously 
as  those  of  the  far  south. 


CHAPTER  XXV 


AT  THE  CABIN  HOME 

HYDROPHOBIA  AMONG  THE  DOGS  —  ONE  DOG  SEVERS  A  STEEL 

CHAIN    WITH    HIS    TEETH,  AND    DISAPPEARS  MR.  REA's 

NARROW  ESCAPE  WAITING  FOR  SUMMER  HOW  TO  REACH 

THE  NORTH  POLE  COLONEL  JONES'S  PRACTICAL  METHOD 

 A    START    FOR    THE    SUNNY    SOUTH  SLOW  PROGRESS, 

LESS  THAN  A  MILE  A  DAY  LAKE    FROZEN    FROM  SHORE 

TO  SHORE   ON   THE   FOURTH  OF  JULY  LIVING   ON  BREAD 

ALONE  —  ARRIVE  AT  FORT  RESOLUTION  IN  THE  MIDDLE  OF 

JULY  FIRST  NEWS  OF  THE  WAR  WITH  SPAIN  MUSIC  IN 

THE  FAR  NORTH,  THE  "  SWEETEST  EVER  HEARD  "  COLO- 
NEL JONES  SO  BEWILDERED,  FANCIED  HIMSELF  IN  THE 
"  SPIRIT  LAND"  FEASTING  ON  THE  FRUITS  OF  HIS  NA- 
TIVE COUNTRY  ONCE  MORE  —  GRAND  RECEPTION  AT  THE 
FORT. 

WHEN  we  arrived  at  our  cabin,  after  our  musk- 
ox  hunt,  both  of  us  were  completely  worn  out. 
My  feet  were  swollen  to  twice  their  usual  size ; 
where  the  snowshoe-straps  crossed,  the  blood 
oozed  out  and  saturated  my  socks.    Of  course  we  were 
compelled  to  wear  moccasins  in  that  frigid  country,  and 
they  could  stretch  to  the  size  of  a  gunboat  if  necessary. 

We  found  the  Indians  congregated  about  a  mile  from 
our  cabin  in  large  numbers.  They  had  picked  up  every 
conceivable  thing  left  outside  of  a  radius  of  two  rods 
from  the  building.   The  knowledge  that  the  revolvers  and 

(  396 ) 


HYDROPHOBIA  AMONG  THE  DOGS 


397 


gun  were  inside,  and  the  assurance  that  the  keg  of  powder 
would  explode  in  the  cabin,  kept  them  all  at  a  respect- 
ful distance  from  it.  Had  it  not  been  for  these  facts, 
every  vestige  of  our  supplies  left  behind  would  have  been 
carried  away  by  the  thieving  band,  and  our  experience 
would  have  been  that  of  all  others  who  ever  trusted  to 
the  honesty  of  hungry  Indians.  To  their  credit  be  it 
said,  however,  that  when  not  hungry  (  which  is  rarely  the 
case  )  they  can  be  trusted  implicitly,  for  the  property  of 
others  is  then  regarded  as  sacred,  particularly  caches  where 
food  is  deposited,  and  only  when  upon  the  verge  of  star- 
vation will  they  touch  it.  Our  supplies  no  doubt  would 
have  been  an  exception  to  the  rule, —  at  least  we  believed 
so. 

Shortly  after  reaching  our  cabin  we  noticed  that  one  of 
our  large  dogs  ( ' '  General ' ' )  next  to  the  lead  in  the  team 
grew  very  quarrelsome,  and  was  continually  fighting  his 
comrades.  He  was  quite  old,  and  his  tusks  were  worn  off 
until  very  blunt.  We  had  observed  his  strange  actions 
while  on  the  last  of  our  homeward  trail,  but  knowing  he 
could  do  little  harm  we  paid  but  little  attention  to  them. 
He  had  always  been  peaceable,  and  we  trusted  him  more 
than  we  ought;  at  least  Mr.  Rea  did.  I  was  convinced 
from  his  strange  actions  and  the  froth  from  his  mouth 
that  he  had  a  genuine  attack  of  hydrophobia.  He  would 
bite  his  tongue  until  the  blood  and  foam  would  run  out 
of  his  mouth  in  a  stream,  and  was  continually  snapping 
at  everything  that  came  near  him.  When  we  tied  him 
up  he  would  howl  so  pitifully  we  could  not  sleep.  Sev- 
eral times  Mr.  Rea  got  up  in  the  night  and  let  him  loose. 
During  the  day  while  hauling  wood,  he  would  pull  all  the 
load  himself,  trying  to  get  to  the  dog  ahead  to  fight  him. 
It  made  no  difference  how  many  joined  against  him,  the 
more  there  were  the  better  he  liked  it.  His  teeth  being  so 
dull  was  all  that  allowed  a  single  one  to  escape.  He  was 
very  vicious  when  once  aroused  to  anger,  and  had  been  the 
most  faithful  of  our  train-dogs  in  guarding  off  the  wolves  ; 


398 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


but  the  wolves  had  wounded  him  severely  at  various 
times.  His  nose  had  been  badly  split,  as  well  as  his 
under  lip,  while  other  wounds  on  his  head  plainly  showed 
he  had  always  been  "  in  at  the  finish."  He  constantly 
grew  worse.  One  day  when  we  were  out  with  the  sleds 
on  a  hunting-trip,  4 4 General"  stopped  about  every  half- 
hour,  turned  entirely  around  in  the  harness,  and  fought 
the  other  dogs  viciously.  As  soon  as  unharnessed  he 
would  pounce  upon  the  first  dog  he  met,  upon  which,  all 
the  train  would  set  upon  him ;  but  it  did  not  daunt  his 
courage  in  the  least, —  it  only  stimulated  him  to  greater 
effort. 

I  suggested  to  Mr.  Rea  that  the  dog  was  surely  mad. 
He  scouted  the  idea.  Then  we  fastened  him  with  a  steel 
chain,  and  in  less  than  an  hour  he  had  severed  it  with  his 
teeth  and  immediately  attacked  the  other  dogs.  Twice  he 
was  thus  fastened,  and  as  often  severed  the  chain  with  his 
teeth.  I  do  not  wish  to  convey  the  idea  that  he  cut  a 
steel  chain  as  a  smith  would  do  with  a  cold-chisel,  but  he 
crushed  the  links  so  hard  they  snapped  apart  and  set  him 
free.  Probably  no  one  who  may  read  the  above  will 
credit  the  statement,  but  it  is  absolutely  true.  The  dog 
was  undoubtedly  endowed  with  this  abnormal  strength 
of  jaw,  under  the  influence  of  the  terrible  disease  from 
which  he  was  suffering. 

Finally  he  attacked  Mr.  Rea,  and  but  for  his  thick 
buckskin  mittens  and  the  blunt  teeth  of  the  dog,  he  would 
have  been  inoculated  with  the  poisonous  virus.  Mr.  Rea 
grabbed  his  gun,  and  instantly  put  an  end  to  old  "  Gen- 
eral's "  sufferings. 

We  were  convinced  that  he  had  a  well-developed  case  of 
hydrophobia ;  that  he  had  been  inoculated  by  the  bite  of 
the  wolf  which  came  so  near  to  me  that  night  at  the  tent 
while  I  was  out  on  the  musk-ox  hunt.  The  wolf,  doubt- 
less, was  passing  through  the  last  stage  of  the  dreadful 
scourge  itself.  I  firmly  believe  it  is  that  disease  which 
keeps  the  wolves  of  the  Barren  Lands  reduced  in  number, 


LOSE  SEVERAL  DOGS 


399 


or  they  would  increase  so  rapidly  as  to  exterminate  all 
ruminant  animals,  for  they  propagate  fully  five  to  six 
times  faster  than  either  the  caribou  or  musk-ox;  besides, 
they  have  no  enemies  to  lessen  their  number,  for  the  In- 
dians will  never  kill  a  wolf  except  in  self-defense,  be- 
lieving that  after  death,  one  who  kills  a  wolf  will  be 
transmuted  to  that  animal  in  the  Happy  Hunting  Grounds. 

We  chained  up  all  our  dogs,  for  fear  they  too  would 
take  the  dreadful  disease.  The  third  day  after  disposing 
of  "General,"  our  faithful  little  "Don,"  that  had  been 
so  badly  torn  by  the  wolves,  showed  symptoms  of  hydro- 
phobia ;  and  within  twenty-four  hours  he  became  so  vi- 
cious that  we  considered  it  unsafe  to  allow  him  to  live 
any  longer,  and  ended  his  troubles  by  a  shot  from  my 
Winchester.  In  about  twenty  days  thereafter,  "Frank- 
lin," another  train-dog,  became  very  quarrelsome.  We 
neglected  to  chain  him,  as  his  good-nature,  as  we  supposed, 
would  prevent  him  from  doing  any  harm.  The  next  day, 
while  we  were  out  setting  a  fish-net  ,  "  Franklin  "  took  to 
the  woods,  and  was  never  seen  afterward. 

After  resting  for  a  week  from  our  visit  to  the  Barren 
Lands,  we  fully  realized  how  embarrassing  it  would  be, 
after  spending  a  year  in  that  region,  to  return  without 
having  secured  at  least  one  pair  of  musk-oxen.  We  would 
gladly  have  waited  until  May  or  June  and  captured  some 
young  calves,  but  having  no  milk,  it  was  out  of 
the  question.  We  had  depended  for  a  supply  of  milk 
upon  a  Mr.  William  Armstrong,  a  partner  of  Mr.  Rea 
who  had  been  on  the  Mackenzie  river  trading  for 
furs.  I  met  him  at  Fort  Smith,  and  made  a  con- 
tract with  him  to  go  after  musk-ox  with  Mr.  Rea  and 
myself.  While  Mr.  Rea  and  I  proceeded  to  Fort  Reliance, 
Mr.  Armstrong  was  to  go  to  Edmonton  by  open  water  in 
a  boat,  and  return  that  fall  by  the  same  route  to  Fort 
Resolution;  then  to  proceed  to  Fort  Reliance  on  dog- 
sleds,  and  join  us.  Among  other  things  he  had  promised 
to  bring  from  Edmonton  was  a  large  quantity  of  con- 


400 


FORTY  YEARS  OF  ADVENTURES 


densed  milk,  with  which  we  would  be  able  to  sustain  any 
calves  of  the  musk-ox  we  might  catch.  But  when  he  ar- 
rived at  Edmonton,  the  Alaska  gold  excitement  was  at  its 
height;  he  then  forgot  all  about  his  partner,  Mr.  Rea, 
far  off  in  the  Barren  Lands,  and  turned  his  face  to  that 
new  El  Dorado.  Long  did  we  watch  and  wait  for  his 
coming,  but  received  no  tidings  from  him  until  the  25th 
of  February,  when  Mr.  Rea  received  a  letter  by  an  Indian 
carrier  who  had  just  returned  from  Fort  Resolution.  It 
was  not  from  Mr.  Armstrong  directly,  however,  but  from 
a  friend  at  Edmonton,  informing  him  that  Mr.  Arm- 
strong had  gone  to  Alaska.  This  was  cold  comfort  for  us, 
and  the  only  thing  remaining  to  do  was  to  undertake  to 
bring  out  some  yearlings  instead  of  calves.  The  plan 
would  have  worked  successfully  had  there  been  one  or  two 
other  men  with  us,  so  that  we  could  have  established  reg- 
ular watches  and  all  have  secured  sleep  enough  to  warrant 
a  continual  guard  until  we  had  passed  beyond  the  line  of 
danger.  Even  after  our  yearlings  had  been  slaughtered, 
if  we  could  have  procured  milk  we  should  have  remained 
and  brought  out  some  small  calves,  which  could  have 
been  accomplished  by  the  aid  of  canoes  for  a  greater  part 
of  the  distance,  while  it  would  have  been  impossible  for 
us  to  transport  yearlings  or  older  animals  in  this  manner. 

Before  leaving  Fort  Reliance  we  decided  not  to  return 
up  the  rivers  by  the  route  we  went  into  that  country,  but 
'chose  rather  to  come  out  by  way  of  Alaska,  as  it  is  all 
down-stream  by  that  route  excepting  about  twenty  miles 
on  the  Peels  river  and  sixty  miles  up  the  Rat  river. 

I  made  a  fair  catch  of  furs  during  the  winter,  such  as 
wolves,  wolverines,  fox,  marten,  lynx,  etc.  I  had  caught 
three  silver-gray  foxes,  and  saved  them  alive,  and  bought 
two  at  Resolution,  making  five;  had  saved  ten  marten 
alive,  and  was  getting  along  very  nicely  with  my  charge. 
These,  unfortunately,  I  was  obliged  to  leave  with  some 
Indians  on  the  Great  Slave  lake  when  we  determined  to 
change  our  course  around  by  Mackenzie  river,  the  Arctic 


REMARKS  REGARDING  THE  NORTH  POLE  401 

ocean,  and  the  Porcupine  and  Yukon  rivers.  I  hope  to 
have  quite  a  number  of  the  marten  and  fox  brought  out 
sometime  during  the  winter  or  next  spring,  and  place 
them  on  an  island  in  the  North  Pacific  ocean,  for  breed- 
ing purposes. 

We  had  been  in  darkness  so  much  during  the  previous 
winter,  I  was  almost  wild  to  reach  the  land  of  eternal 
day.  Yes,  I  felt  as  if  I  would  like  to  reach  the  North 
Pole,  in  order  to  realize  the  largest  possible  amount  of 
daylight. 

Speaking  of  the  North  Pole,  I  desire  to  say: 
After  my  experience  in  the  far  North,  I  have  come  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  man  who  reaches  the  North  Pole 
must  be  made  of  sterner  metal  than  anyone  who  thus  far 
has  attempted  the  perilous  journey.  No  " tenderfoot" 
will  ever  hang  the  flag  of  his  country  on  the  mythical 
pole,  or  on  a  real  one,  at  the  northern  extremity  of  this 
terrestrial  globe.  When  I  say  "  tenderfoot,"  I  mean  any- 
one who  has  not  had  experience  in  all  the  arts  required  to 
meet  every  contingency  necessary  to  such  an  undertaking. 
In  the  first  place,  he  must  be  an  expert  hunter,  or  rather, 
an  expert  "  killer."  There  are  thousands  of  men  who  can 
shoot  glass  balls,  kill  birds  on  the  wing;  also  many  who 
can  stand  on  the  trails  or  runways  of  deer  and  shoot  the 
majestic  stag  as  he  gallops  by.  He  may  be  a  skilled  hun- 
ter, who  has  pitched  his  "A"  tent  in  the  u  Rockies,"  and 
been  fortunate  enough  to  have  slain  the  stately  elk,  moun- 
tain sheep,  caribou,  and  even  the  grizzly  bear;  but  all 
these  accomplishments  will  not,  alone,  perfect  him  for 
the  great  feat  yet  to  be  accomplished. 

The  man  who  can  not  only  kill  game  in  favorable  loca- 
tions, where  there  are  plenty  of  blinds  behind  which  to 
conceal  himself,  but  has  learned  the  secret  of  creeping  on 
all  kinds  of  animals,  equal  to  the  white  bear  when  it 
stealthily  approaches  the  seal  on  the  smooth  ice,  is  only 
partially  prepared  for  the  adventurous  undertaking.  He 
should  take  lessons  of  the  animals  which  prey  upon  others 
—  26 


402 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


for  food,  and  not  only  closely  observe  them,  but  put  into 
practice  the  lessons  learned,  until  he  is  as  skillful  as  the 
creatures  that  have  unconsciously  taught  him. 

Did  the  reader  ever  study  the  cunning  of  a  cat  endeav- 
oring to  secure  a  meal?  If  not,  watch  her  when  she  dis- 
covers a  mouse,  rat,  or  gopher.  She  crouches  close  to  the 
ground,  never  moving  a  muscle  or  winking  the  eye  while 
the  little  rodent  is  still,  but  the  moment  the  tiny  creature 
moves,  or  lowers  its  head  to  drink  or  eat,  she  moves  closer 
and  closer,  for  while  the  victim-to-be  is  thus  engaged,  it 
does  not  discover  or  detect  the  action  of  the  pursuer. 
While  thus  following  her  methods,  she  does  not  take  her 
eyes  from  off  the  creature  whose  dainty  flesh  is  to  furnish 
her  food ;  every  movement  must  be  weighed  and  measured 
accurately,  and  thus  not  allow  her  quarry  to  detect  a  sin- 
gle motion  or  it  would  be  fatal.  When  the  right  moment 
comes,  she  is  on  her  victim  with  a  single  bound,  and  the 
watch  is  over.  What  is  true  of  the  cat  also  applies  to 
the  panther,  lynx,  wildcat,  mountain  lion,  and  other  ani- 
mals of  the  feline  species,  and  should  also  apply  to  the 
hunter. 

During  my  twoscore  years  of  hunting,  on  the  Plains 
and  in  the  Arctic  region,  I  learned  to  kill  animals  on  the 
open  prairie,  ice-covered  lakes,  and  barren  lands,  where 
there  is  no  shelter  behind  which  to  hide,  with  as  much 
ease  as  in  the  forests  of  the  middle  States,  or  among  the 
rocks  and  hills  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

The  reindeer  and  seals  are  very  difficult  to  approach, 
owing  to  their  acute  sense  of  sight  and  smell.  The  In- 
dian never  attempts,  like  the  Eskimo,  to  measure  cunning 
with  the  reindeer  in  the  open  country,  or  on  the  ice,  but 
relies  upon  waiting  behind  trees  or  rocks,  near  their  trails, 
or  spears  them  as  they  cross  large  rivers  or  small  lakes. 
The  curiosity  of  the  Indians  was  aroused  to  a  high  pitch, 
when  they  witnessed  my  attempt  to  kill  four  large  rein- 
deer bulls  on  the  ice  without  a  blind  behind  which  to 
hide.    This,  to  them,  was  an  unheard-of  exploit,  but  to 


FAILURE  ALMOST  CERTAIN 


403 


me  it  was  an  every-day  occurrence.  I  had  learned  to  walk 
up  to  that  most  wary  of  beasts,  the  antelope,  on  the  open 
prairie,  with  as  much  ease  as  did  the  hunter  for  buffalo 
when  he  stalked  those  dumb  animals  in  the  early '70s, 
and  could  shoot  them  with  all  confidence  and  certainty. 
And  unless  the  would-be  Arctic  explorer  is  skilled  in  all 
the  arts  of  creeping  onto  and  killing  game  in  the  open 
fields,  he  had  as  well  stay  at  home. 

There  is  another  requisite  which  is  just  as  important  to 
success  as  the  game  question.  I  refer  to  the  will-power 
and  willingness  to  do  or  die,  without  which  the  explorer 
will  fail  in  his  purpose.  When  he  starts  on  his  perilous 
journey,  he  must  have  made  up  his  mind  he  has  lived  long 
enough,  resign  himself  to  any  fate,  and  be  ready  to  "give 
up  the  ghost "  in  that  land  of  darkness,  rather  than  have 
written  beside  his  name,  "  Failure  !  " 

Andree,  who  started  to  the  Pole  in  a  balloon,  possessed 
this  determination  to  such  a  degree  as  in  one  sense  to  be 
commendable,  and  if  the  expedition  had  been  judiciously 
planned,  he  might  have  been  successful.  His  method  of 
locomotion,  however,  was  simply  suicidal,  and  should  have 
been  prevented  by  his  Majesty  King  Oscar  of  Sweden,  in- 
stead of  receiving  encouragement  from  him. 

No  one  has  any  conception  of  the  terrible  solitude  of  a 
country  where  the  foot  of  man  has  never  trod,  and  even 
animal  life  ceases  to  exist.  Here  the  tiny  ant,  the  annoy- 
ing fly,  and  even  the  horrid  spider,  would  be  welcome  vis- 
itors . 

If  the  winter  darkness  prevails,  one  is  almost  convinced 
it  is  the  u  everlasting  darkness  "  of  which  we  read,  minus 
"  the  fire  which  water  quencheth  not,"  and  is  all  that  is 
needed  to  make  it  a  veritable  "hades."  On  the  other 
hand,  when  the  summer  sun  shines  continuously,  it 
causes  serious  belief  that  you  have  reached  the  portals 
where  "eternal  day  excludes  the  night,"  and  were  it  not 
for  the  pangs  of  hunger,  certainly  "pleasure  would  ban- 
ish pain." 


404 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


The  solitude  causes  one  to  become  bewildered  and  lost, 
and  only  the  strong-minded  man,  with  an  indomitable 
will,  should  ever  attempt,  or  give  serious  thought  to  the 
undertaking.  When  Death,  the  "  last  enemy,"  appears 
to  be  right  ahead,  the  hero  must  press  on  harder  than  be- 
fore, even  to  the  very  end. 

I  firmly  believe  the  North  Pole  can  and  will  be  found, 
if  such  a  character  or  characters  as  I  have  attempted  to 
portray,  start  with  a  well-planned  expedition  and  line  of 
march. 

Of  course,  dog-sledges  are  indispensable.  Were  I  or- 
ganizing an  expedition,  I  would  not  take  more  than  two 
companions,  on  the  last  four  hundred  miles.  I  would 
start  with  three  boat-sleds  of  five  dogs  each,  with  as  many 
reindeer  and  loose  dogs,  working  them  every  other  day. 
Upon  one  team  I  would  depend  to  bring  me  back,  and 
would  feed  it  fairly  well,  on  dogs  and  deer  killed  for  that 
purpose.  The  others  I  would  keep  on  half-rations,  while 
about  one-third  of  the  animals  would  receive  very  little 
food.  When  the  first  animal  gave  out,  I  would  kill  it 
and  feed  the  flesh  and  bones  to  my  dogs,  or  cache  it;  and 
as  the  others  became  exhausted,  would  treat  them  in  the 
same  manner.  Thus  I  would  go  to  the  Pole  and  return, 
with  only  one  sled.  By  taking  dogs  and  reindeer  for 
rations,  for  the  return  team,  it  would  relieve  us  of  a  great 
burden,  and  lighten  our  load  of  provisions.  If  game  were 
sighted,  I  would  secure"  it,  whether  there  were  blinds  or 
not,  and  thus  save  all  the  dogs  possible. 

It  is  all-important  that  one  be  properly  and  lightly 
equipped;  also,  just  as  important  not  to  be  overburdened 
with  heavy  clothing,  which  is  detrimental  to  locomotion. 
Worst  of  all,  too  much  clothing  causes  the  body  to  be- 
come heated  to  such  an  extent  in  that  climate,  where  the 
humidity  of  the  atmosphere  is  greater  than  in  any  other 
part  of  the  world,  that  it  thereby  causes  perspiration  so 
profuse  that  one's  garments  become  entirely  saturated. 
The  sun's  rays  are  almost  powerless  to  cause  evaporation  ; 


CONFIDENCE  IN  PRINCE  LUIGI 


405 


consequently,  when  at  midnight  the  sun  sinks  near  the 
horizon,  the  clothing  is  frozen  stiff  (and  this  too,  in  sum- 
mer-time), which  robs  the  explorer  of  the  rest  he  so  much 
requires. 

There  is  a  way  to  accomplish  anything  and  everything, 
and  after  it  has  once  been  learned,  the  journey  to  the 
North  Pole  will  be  comparatively  an  easy  one.  The  only 
person  I  have  ever  had  the  least  confidence  would  reach 
the  Pole,  is  the  gallant  young  Italian  Prince,  Luigi,  who 
is  now  on  his  way  in  that  direction.  We  all  know  he  is  a 
great  hunter,  and  no  doubt  knows  the  art  of  "creeping 
up"  to  game.  He  is  reported  to  be  a  very  successful 
game-killer,  and  is  courageous,  with  great  will-power, 
which,  unless  judiciously  used,  may  send  him  to  his 
death;  but  if  he  plans  with  a  discretion  equal  to  his 
valor,  all  will  be  well.  When  he  kissed  the  hand  of  his 
aunt,  the  gracious  Queen  of  Italy,  accepted  the  flag  made 
by  her  own  skillful  hands,  and  said,  "  I  will  place  it  on 
the  North  Pole  or  never  return,"  I  felt  persuaded  he 
would  succeed. 

During  the  long  nights  of  the  previous  winter  the  ice 
had  frozen  to  a  depth  of  six  or  seven  feet  on  the  Great 
Slave  lake,  and  we  must  wait  for  open  water  or  go  to 
Fort  Resolution  on  dog-sleds.  My  freight  was  somewhat 
limited  after  a  stay  of  eight  months ;  as  both  of  us  had 
been  blessed  with  a  good  appetite,  our  raids  upon  the 
original  stock  of  provisions  had  reduced  it  materially.  I 
could  therefore  have  hauled  all  I  had  left  with  one  dog- 
sled.  Fortunately  I  had  cached  at  Fort  Resolution  the 
previous  year  a  goodly  supply  of  flour,  bacon,  and  other 
eatables  with  my  friend  Mr.  Nagle.  Mr.  Rea  was  differ- 
ently situated  :  he  had  brought  a  boat-load  of  goods,  hop- 
ing to  trade  with  the  Indians  for  furs,  but  the  savages 
had  been  so  dilatory  they  were  almost  destitute ;  having 
failed  to  trap  any  animals,  they  consequently  had  no 
skins.  Failing  in  the  fall  to  kill  any  musk-oxen,  and  not 
having  made  their  other  semi-annual  hunt  in  the  spring, 


406 


FORTY  YEARS    OF  ADVENTURES 


doubtless  fearing  we  would  follow  their  trail,  they  had  not 
even  a  single  robe  of  that  animal,  which  is  their  prin- 
cipal dependence,  with  which  to  trade;  so  Mr.  Rea  still 
had  all  his  goods  left,  with  nothing  to  trade  for. 

Here  was  a  dilemma  for  which  no  provision  had  been 
made,  for  it  would  have  required  at  least  four  dog-trains 
to  transport  Mr.  Rea's  goods  to  Fort  Resolution,  which 
it  was  impossible  to  secure,  as,  though  the  Indians  had 
plenty  of  dogs,  these  dogs  were  in  a  starving  condition, 
therefore  the  Indians  could  not  go.  The  Indian  dog  can- 
not live  upon  Arctic  snow  and  do  hard  work;  he  appears 
to  do  light  work  around  the  teepee  on  that  provender ! 
So  Mr.  Rea  was  obliged  to  travel  by  open  water.  I  was 
aware  that  if  I  could  only  reach  the  Mackenzie  river  on 
ice  it  would  put  me  at  least  a  month  ahead  on  my  jour- 
ney, as  ice  always  breaks  up  on  the  rivers  a  month  before 
it  does  on  the  lakes. 

What  to  do  was  the  problem  that  confronted  me.  Mr. 
Rea  consented  that  I  should  do  whatever  I  deemed  best; 
that  is,  go  on  a  single  dog-sled,  with  the  two  dogs  still  re- 
maining, or  remain  until  open  water,  when  I  could  go 
with  him.  After  lying  awake  several  nights,  rolling  and 
tumbling  in  my  blankets,  I  remembered  the  golden  rule. 
Realizing  what  a  dreadful  thing  it  would  be  for  me  to  live 
in  that  horrid  country  alone,  three  or  four  wearisome 
months,  I  decided  at  once  not  to  treat  Mr.  Rea  as  others 
had,  and  told  him  my  intentions  were  to  stay  with  him 
"  to  a  finish." 

Whether  or  not  he  was  pleased  in  having  my  company 
in  that  God-forsaken  country,  it  is  not  for  me  to  say; 
the  reader  can  be  the  better  judge. 

When  June  came,  the  snow  left  —  also  our  eatables, 
as  we  were  obliged  to  divide  our  scanty  supply  with  a 
band  of  starving  Indians  who  arrived  at  Susann's  wigwam 
on  their  way  to  the  Barren  Lands  after  reindeer.  We  di- 
vided equally  with  them,  although  we  needed  every  scrap 
badly.    They  ate  it  all  at  one  meal,  and  then  left,  trust- 


START  FOR  FORT  RESOLUTION 


407 


ing  to  the  Great  Spirit  for  their  next.  Susann  and  little 
Ellen  joined  them  to  share  their  fate,  on  a  vague  possi- 
bility of  living.  Before  leaving,  the  little  girl  came  far 
out  of  her  way,  and  with  tears  streaming  down  her  cheeks 
reached  out  her  little  hand  and  said,  "  Molar-,  mecha," 
(white  man,  good-by).  I  gave  her  many  little  presents, 
such  as  knives,  forks,  spoons,  a  blanket,  etc.,  which 
cheered  her  despondent  soul,  and  she  wended  her  way  on 
the  trail  of  her  mysterious  kindred.  Susann  did  not  even 
say  good-by,  and  I  was  not  aggrieved  by  her  action.  The 
female  caribou  had  long  since  passed  to  the  north.  The 
males  still  lingered  far  to  the  south,  and  we  relied  entirely 
upon  catching  fish  and  shooting  ducks,  but  found  the  fish 
did  not  abound  in  that  end  of  the  lake,  or  at  least  we 
failed  to  catch  them  in  our  net,  or  with  hook  and  line, — 
no  doubt  on  account  of  the  transparency  of  the  water, 
which  allows  the  net  to  be  seen  from  a  great  distance. 
We  succeeded  in  shooting  a  few  ducks,  but  cold  weather 
set  in  again,  and  froze  the  lake  completely  over.  We 
could  see  geese  and  ducks  occasionally  flying  high  in  the 
air,  but  none  came  down.  For  eleven  days  we  eked  out 
an  existence  on  half  a  biscuit  each,  three  times  a  day, 
which  was  the  hardest  living  that  ever  fell  to  my  lot.  I 
am  certain  of  one  thing :  our  Saviour  knew  of  what  He 
spake  when  He  said,  "  It  is  written,  man  shall  not  live  by 
bread  alone,"  for  I  was  so  weak  and  emaciated,  after  my 
dreadful  experience,  I  fully  realized  the  truth  of  the  state- 
ment. I  could  not  see  where  to  step,  or  distinguish  one 
direction  from  another.  Living  for  twenty-seven  days  on 
meat  alone,  as  I  did  at  one  time  while  on  this  Northern 
trip,  was  continual  feasting  compared  to  slowly  starving 
on  bread  alone. 

On  the  20th  of  June  we  determined  to  abandon  our  hor- 
rible quarters,  which  were  but  a  prison,  and  make  as  fast 
time  as  possible  toward  Fort  Resolution.  There  was  about 
fifty  feet,  on  an  average,  of  open  water  next  to  the  shore, 
when  the  wind  was  in  a  favorable  direction ;  but  an  ad- 


408 


FORTY  YEARS  OF  ADVENTURES 


verse  blow  would  drive  the  ice  up  on  the  margin  of  the 
lake  and  cut  off  navigation,  especially  when  it  blew 
fiercely,  which  in  this  close  vicinity  to  the  Barren  Lands 
was  nothing  unusual.  Later  on,  the  ice  came  across 
the  lake  in  such  great  force  that  we  were  compelled  to 
haul  our  boat  far  up  onto  the  shore ;  and  often  floes  of 
ice,  many  rods  square,  four  and  five  feet  thick,  were  sent 
thirty  to  forty  feet  upon  the  shore,  by  the  great  volume 
of  ice  that  had  gained  such  momentum  that  its  force  was 
almost  irresistible.  It  took  good  generalship  and  plenty 
of  muscle  to  prevent  our  boat  from  being  ground  to  pow- 
der by  the  great  floes  of  ice  that  came  together  with  ter- 
rific force  at  each  unfavorable  turn  of  the  wind.  Often 
we  were  obliged  to  jump  out,  one  on  each  side  of  the  boat 
with  long  levers,  and  as  the  great  floes  came  together  we 
would  pry  the  boat  out  of  the  water  and  it  rode  high  on 
the  ice  until  a  separation  was  effected. 

It  took  us  just  eight  days  to  make  six  miles  in  the  direc- 
tion of  Fort  Resolution.  After  all  our  hard  work  we  were 
again  frozen  in  solid  at  the  end  of  our  short  progress,  and 
were  compelled  to  remain  until  the  6th  of  July,  when  a 
north  wrind  with  the  velocity  of  a  hurricane  came,  which 
broke  up  the  ice  and  ground  it  to  slush. 

The  next  morning  we  set  a  net  across  the  mouth  of  a 
little  stream,  where,  by  'taking  poles  and  thrashing  the 
water  above,  we  so  frightened  them  we  secured  twenty- 
four  fine,  large  trout  by  that  method.  That  was  a  happy 
day  for  us  as  here,  seated  on  a  large  stone,  we  ate  boiled 
fish  and  drank  tea, —  the  best  meal  I  ever  enjoyed  in  my 
whole  life.  It  was  a  happier  day  for  the  dogs,  for  they 
had  not  had  a  bite  to  eat  for  three  long  weeks,  excepting 
what  they  may  have  foraged  for  themselves,  which  must 
have  been  almost  nothing.  It  seems  hardly  credible  that 
any  animal  could  exist  so  long  on  the  verge  of  actual  star- 
vation, but  such  a  condition  is  common  to  the  arctic  dogs, 
particularly  those  owned  by  Indians. 

Again  that  dreadful  scourge,  hydrophobia,  made  its  ap- 


HYDROPHOBIA  AGAIN 


409 


pearance  in  our  camp.  That  night  our  favorite  leader, 
the  dog  "  Sandy,"  became  raving  mad.  He  was  a  great 
favorite,  and  very  valuable  in  that  northern  country. 
He  was  much  more  intelligent  than  any  of  the  native 
dogs.  Mr.  Rea  had  been  much  attached  to  him  for  two 
years,  and  I  knew  he  could  never  muster  up  sufficient 
courage  to  put  him  out  of  his  misery.  After  the  poor 
animal  had  howled  all  night  long,  preventing  us  from 
sleeping  at  all,  I  suggested  to  Mr.  Rea  that  Sandy  was 
certainly  doomed,  and  asked  him  if  I  had  not  better  take 
care  of  him.  For  a  moment  he  was  silent,  but  at  last 
said,  "  Use  your  own  judgment."  I  took  my  Winchester, 
went  outside,  found  the  dog  lying  down  with  his  front 
legs  stretched  out  before  him,  and  his  head  in  the  air, 
howling  most  pitifully.  I  shot  him  just  back  of  the  ear. 
He  did  not  struggle,  but  simply  dropped  his  head  on  his 
paws,  and  in  a  moment  he  was  dead. 

After  breakfast,  as  we  passed  the  body  of  the  poor  fel- 
low on  our  way  to  the  boat,  I  said  to  Mr.  Rea,  "  We'll 
allow  old  Sandy  to  take  a  long  'spell,'  "  for  we  saw  he 
wras  in  the  position  he  always  assumed  while  resting.  At 
my  words  Mr.  Rea  took  a  last  look  at  the  faithful  animal, 
said  nothing,  but  merely  nodded  his  head.  Sandy's  death 
left  us  with  only  one  train-dog  and  our  last  shepherd. 

After  arranging  our  sails  we  launched  the  boat  into  the 
rough  waves,  and  with  a  favorable  wind  went  spinning 
through  the  water  in  earnest  in  the  direction  of  Fort  Res- 
olution. After  having  proceeded  a  hundred  miles  down 
the  lake  we  arrived  at  an  Indian  camp,  which  was  well 
provided  with  dry  meat.  We  traded  with  its  occupants 
for  several  hundred  pounds,  but  the  men  all  tried  to  dis- 
courage us  from  proceeding  alone  on  our  hazardous  jour- 
ney. The  politic  fellows  evidently  expected  we  would 
hire  guides,  but  as  we  had  been  close  observers  on  our  ini- 
tial trip,  we  were  determined  to  be  our  own  pilots,  as  I 
had  drawn  a  very  accurate  chart  of  the  route.  There  are 
so  many  "blind  pockets"  and  sunken  reefs  and  rocks, 


410 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


that  boats  are  easily  dashed  to  pieces  upon  them.  Per- 
haps, after  all,  the  Indians  were  justified  in  their  appar- 
ent concern  for  our  safety,  for  there  are  thousands  of 
islands  between  which  a  boat  must  make  its  tortuous 
passage,  and  it  is  a  very  difficult  matter  to  get  through 
them  if  one  is  not  well  acquainted  with  the  proper 
channels. 

On  these  islands,  and  in  the  marshes  between,  as  well 
as  in  the  whole  of  that  northern  country,  the  mosquitoes 
and  sandflies  hold  high  carnival.  The  air  is  literally 
filled  with  them;  it  is  impossible  to  open  the  mouth,  or 
take  a  long  breath,  without  inhaling  swarms  of  them; 
and  with  no  mosquito-bars,  sleep  is  impossible.  They 
even  crawled  under  our  blankets,  up  our  sleeves  and 
trousers-legs.  They  w^ere  certainly  the  most  persistent 
insects  of  their  kind  I  have  ever  seen  anywhere,  making 
life  one  continual  torment. 

Referring  to  the  clouds  of  sandflies  and  mosquitoes 
which  annoyed  us  at  times  almost  beyond  the  point  of  en- 
durance, I  cannot  refrain  from  quoting  Capt.  Back  again. 
He  gives  the  following  vivid  account  of  his  experience : 

u  We  suffered  dreadfully  from  myriads  of  sandflies  and 
mosquitoes,  being  so  disfigured  by  their  attacks  that  our 
features  could  scarcely  be  recognized.  Horseflies,  appro- 
priately styled  'bull-dogs,'  were  another  dreadful  pest, 
which  pertinaciously  gorged  themselves  like  the  leech 
until  they  seemed  ready  to  burst.  It  is  vain  to  attempt 
to  defend  ourselves  against  these  puny  blood-suckers ; 
though  you  crush  thousands  of  them,  tens  of  thousands 
arise  to  avenge  the  death  of  their  companions.    .  . 

' '  How  can  I  possibly  give  an  idea  of  the  torment  we 
endured  from  the  sandflies  !  As  we  divided  into  the  con- 
fined and  suffocating  ravines,  or  waded  through  the  close 
swamps,  they  arose  in  clouds,  actually  darkening  the  air; 
to  see  or  to  speak  was  equally  difficult,  for  they  rushed  at 
every  undefended  part,  and  fixed  their  poisonous  fangs  in 


CARNIVOROUS  INSECTS 


411 


an  instant.  Our  faces  streamed  with  blood,  as  if  leeches 
had  been  applied,  and  there  was  a  burning  and  irritating 
pain,  followed  by  immediate  inflammation,  and  produc- 
ing giddiness,  which  almost  drove  us  mad,  and  caused  us 
to  moan  with  pain  and  agony." 

The  above  is  a  truthful  picture  of  our  own  battles  with 
the  insects  described ;  but  Captain  Back  does  not  refer 
to  the  unutterable  torments  the  animals  of  that  region 
are  subjected  to,  for  his  mission  was  entirely  different 
from  that  of  ours.  We  were  necessarily  brought  into 
contact  with  nearly  every  variety  of  mammals  in  that 
country,  and  despite  our  own  sufferings  in  the  particular 
referred  to,  we  pitied  the  reindeer  and  moose,  whose  suf- 
ferings were  only  relieved  at  times  by  frantically  rushing 
into  the  water,  thus  gaining  a  little  respite  from  the  at- 
tacks of  the  swarms  of  blood-suckers.  The  south  shore, 
lined  with  the  driftwood,  dead  grass  and  vegetation  of 
the  lake,  seemed  to  be  an  ideal  breeding-place  for  these 
insects. 

There  is  one  thing  very  striking  in  the  Northern  coun- 
try :  it  appears  like  a  newly  made  world.  There  is  noth- 
ing that  indicates  age,  excepting  the  stones,  and  even  they 
look  as  if  of  recent  formation.  The  trees  north  of  Fort 
Smith  and  south  of  Great  Slave  lake  all  appear  young 
and  thrifty;  none  indicate  old  age,  or  dilapidation  caused 
by  the  storms  of  time.  Wherever  the  rivers  cut  through 
and  make  new  channels,  the  banks  show  logs  and  sticks 
deposited  thickly  through  the  whole  region,  to  a  depth  of 
twenty  to  thirty  feet  below  the  surface ;  while  north  of 
the  lake  there  is  little  or  no  soil.  The  surface  is  nothing 
but  moss-covered  rocks  scattered  over  the  country,  except 
that  occasionally  in  the  valleys  a  little  soil  borders  the 
edges  of  the  streams  and  lakes.  My  opinion  is  that 
within  a  thousand  years  the  Athabaska  and  Great  Slave 
lakes  will  not  be  half  as  large  as  they  are  to-day.  From 
the  best  information  I  could  obtain,  and  judging  from  re- 


412 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


cent  marks  at  the  water's  edge  of  Great  Slave  lake,  the 
lake  has  lowered  fully  three  feet  in  the  past  ten  years. 
Water-marks  of  relatively  modern  time  can  be  plainly 
traced  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet  above  the  lake's  surface; 
that  is,  east  of  the  narrows,  which  once  was  a  high  ridge 
clear  across.  The  logs,  sticks,  dirt  and  silt,  that  are 
hurled  down  the  mountains  and  precipitated  into  the 
dashing  waters  throughout  the  vast  expanse  of  country 
tributary  to  the  Peace,  Athabaska  and  other  rivers,  all  go 
to  the  Athabaska  and  the  south  half  of  Great  Slave  lakes, 
whose  waters  are  very  muddy.  This  great  accumulation 
of  sediment  is  then  cast  ashore  or  settles  to  the  bottom. 
This  process  is  all  the  time  building  up  more  land.  In 
fact,  each  year's  encroachment  of  the  land  upon  the  great 
lakes'  area  is  plain  to  be  seen  for  many  miles  before  reach- 
ing these  lakes,  evidenced  by  the  age  of  the  trees,  by  sap- 
lings and  little  sprouts  and  newly  made  land.  The  same 
is  true  of  the  Arctic  ocean  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mackenzie 
river  only ;  while  on  other  parts  of  the  coast  and  shores 
of  the  inland  lakes,  as  Artillery,  Clinton  Golden,  Bear, 
and  others,  there  has  been  no  apparent  change  for  ages. 
There  is  not  an  indication  of  the  "made"  land  around 
their  borders, —  nothing,  as  a  rule,  but  clean,  sharp  rocks, 
where  the  ever-dashing  waves  are  always  rolling. 

The  territory  between  Edmonton  and  Great  Slave  lake 
is  one  great  wilderness.  The  forests  are  so  dense  that  one 
can  scarcely  pas's  through  them,  owing  to  the  fallen  trees 
and  underbrush.  In  many  places  a  person  is  compelled 
to  cut  his  way  through  with  an  axe.  The  country  is  hilly, 
rising  in  many  places  to  the  height  of  small  mountains. 
The  forests  are  largely  composed  of  spruce-pines;  they 
often  grow  to  three  feet  in  diameter,  are  very  straight, 
and  would  make  fine  lumber.  White  poplar  comes  next 
in  amount.  •  It  seldom  reaches  half  the  diameter  and 
height  of  the  spruce.  Prom  the  leaves  and  twigs  of  this 
tree  the  moose  gather  most  of  their  provender,  and  the 
beaver  thrive  on  the  bark  cut  from  the  trunks  with  their 


ARRIVAL  AT  FORT  RESOLUTION 


413 


long  sharp  teeth.  White  birch  is  found  throughout  this 
region,  and  often  trees  grow  two  feet  in  diameter.  Tama- 
racks abound  in  limited  numbers  in  the  swamps.  They 
are  small,  and  scarcely  ever  reach  a  foot  in  diameter. 
Where  the  shade  from  trees  is  not  too  dense,  red  raspber- 
ries, red  currants,  gooseberries,  strawberries  and  susca- 
toons  grow  to  perfection.  I  gathered  all  these  fruits  as 
far  north  as  Great  Slave  lake,  and  red  currants  and  cran- 
berries two  hundred  miles  north  of  the  Arctic  Circle.  The 
cranberries  are  found  on  a  delicate  vine  that  grows  in  the 
moss,  and  are  so  plentiful  in  some  localities  that  they  can 
be  gathered  by  double-handfuls. 

We  were  now  living  like  lords  upon  the  dried  meat  which 
we  had  obtained  from  the  Indians,  and  the  weather  con- 
tinuing fine,  we  experienced  very  little  difficulty  in  our 
progress  until  the  evening  of  the  13th  of  July.  At  that 
time,  when  only  a  short  distance  from  Fort  Resolution,  a 
fearful  tempest  rose  that  drove  our  frail  craft  at  a  terrific 
rate,  the  white-caps  of  the  angry  waves  pouring  into  it.  Mr. 
Rea  held  on  to  the  rudder  with  a  firm  grip,  while  I  bailed 
vigorously,  until  we  rounded  a  point  and  were  in  the  lee 
of  the  land ;  then  the  fort  was  in  sight.  The  two  or  three 
buildings  which  constitute  it  were  a  wonderful  exponent 
of  civilization  to  us,  when  compared  with  the  total  absence 
of  anything  to  which  the  term  applies,  during  our  long 
and  sequestered  absence,  seemingly  out  of  the  world.  In 
addition  to  the  regular  buildings,  all  of  which  are  white- 
washed, we  could  see  through  our  field-glasses  a  large  num- 
ber of  tents  close  to  them,  which  reminded  us  of  the 
" White  City"  at  Chicago  in  1893  (World's  Fair). 

We  sailed  into  the  harbor,  where  were  boats  of  every 
style  and  shape.  On  anchoring  and  going  ashore  we  found 
a  large  delegation  from  the  "  White  City,"  sure  enough, 
some  of  whom  proved  to  be  members  of  the  Yukon  Valley 
Mining  Company,  besides  hundreds  of  others  bound  for 
Alaska.    George  Enderly  was  captain  of  the  mining  com- 


414 


FORTY  YEARS  OF  ADVENTURES 


pany;  T.  V.  Cannon,  the  commissary,  and  when  upon 
their  invitation  I  dined  with  them,  I  was  convinced  that 
those  under  his  charge  lived  sumptuously.  Charles  B. 
Tapp,  another  of  the  members,  was  a  musician,  and  had 
organized  a  fine  orchestra.  They  were  a  jolly  set  of  fel- 
lows. 

At  this  outpost  we  obtained  all  the  news  of  the  year 
past.  The  particulars  of  the  recent  gold  discoveries  in 
Alaska  were  here  revealed  to  us.  Our  first  talk  was  with 
a  party  from  Nova  Scotia.  We  asked  them  to  tell  us  the 
principal  events  of  the  year. 

They  answered,  "  Certainly.  You  know  of  the  war  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  Spain  ?  " 

"No.    What  is  it?"  was  my  reply. 

"  Well,  the  United  States  has  been  in  a  great  war  with 
the  Spaniards,  and  licked  them  good." 

I  asked  who  did  the  fighting  for  the  United  States, 
meaning,  was  it  the  regular  army  or  volunteers  ?  Their 
answer  was,  "Oh,  Dewey  did  the  fighting." 

"Well,  who  is  Dewey  ?  "  was  my  eager  inquiry. 

"Oh,  Dewey  is  the  fellow  that  whipped  the  Spaniards," 
was  the  reply.  And  that  was  about  all  I  could  find  out 
until  I  met  the  Chicago  boys,  when  I  learned  the  particu- 
lars of  the  war  up  to  May  15th. 

We  made  the  acquaintance  of  many  others  bound  for 
the  new  El  Dorado;  among  whom  was  an  interesting 
party  from  Paterson,  N.  J., —  Herbert  Davenport  and 
brother,  and  Wm.  Deane.  The  younger  Mr.  Davenport 
played  the  autoharp  with  exquisite  taste,  and  otherwise 
entertained  us  with  songs  and  music  in  right  royal  style. 

The  sun  had  already  dodged  behind  a  small  island  in  the 
far  northwest,  for  the  night.  I  knew  it  would  soon  slip  out 
from  the  other  end,  and  morning  would  be  with  us  before 
we  had  time  to  sleep.  I  had  scarcely  closed  my  eyes  for 
three  days  and  nights,  as  the  mosquitoes  had  been  singing 
to  me  persistently,  and  insisting  in  "putting  in  their 
bills  "  for  payment.    Tired  and  weary,  I  soon  sought  my 


"  SWEETEST  MUSIC  EVER  HEARD" 


415 


blankets,  dropped  a  new  mosquito-bar  just  purchased,  and 
was  just  dozing  off  into  dreamland,  when  Messrs.  Tapp  and 
Davenport  started  their  orchestra,  beginning  with  a  little 
Sunday-school  song  I  had  often  heard5  the  chorus  of  which 
ran,  "  Sweetest  music  ever  heard,"  etc.  Just  imagine  the 
contrast  in  the  music  we  had  been  compelled  to  listen  to 
for  a  whole  year !  The  sounds  that  had  greeted  our  ears 
during  that  time  were  only  those  of  the  howling  wolves, 
the  snarling  arctic  dogs  in  their  life-and-death  struggles 
for  the  bones  their  masters  had  cast  away  simply  because 
they  themselves  lacked  maxillaries  sufficiently  powerful 
to  crush  them,  and  the  diabolical,  discordant  yells  of  the 
savages  at  their  incantations.  Mr.  Tapp  played  the  cor- 
net, and  his  selections  were  of  the  highest  order.  The 
calm,  cool  air  wafted  the  music  across  the  bay,  then  re- 
turned it  in  a  thousand  melodious  echoes.  I  can  truth- 
fully testify  that  to  me,  under  the  circumstances,  it  was  in 
reality  "the  sweetest  music  ever  heard."  It  so  startled 
and  affected  me  that  I  was  obliged  to  gather  my  reason- 
ing faculties  in  order  to  determine  whether  or  not  I  had 
been  transported  into  that  other  world  "  where  the 
wicked  cease  from  troubling  and  the  weary  are  at  rest." 
I  never  before  realized  the  vast  difference  between  barbar- 
ism and  the  culture  and  refinement  to  which  a  civilized 
people  are  susceptible,  until  that  music,  in  such  a  bar- 
barous country,  met  my  ears. 

We  remained  at  Fort  Resolution  until  the  17th,  receiv- 
ing, every  day  of  our  stay  there,  more  invitations  to  break- 
fast, dinner,  or  tea,  from  the  different  mining  outfits  and 
from  Mr.  Nagle  ( the  trader  at  that  place),  than  was  pos- 
sible for  us  to  accept.  We  never  declined, excepting  when 
previous  engagements  compelled  us.  We  frequently  dined 
with  the  young  gentlemen  from  New  Jersey,  who  had 
brought  with  them  an  abundance  of  preserved  peaches  for 
which  their  native  State  is  noted,  together  with  Califor- 
nia canned  fruit,  which,  after  our  monotonous  diet,  we 
re&lished  beyond  expression. 


416 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


While  we  were  at  the  fort,  several  delegations  en  route 
for  the  gold-fields  of  Alaska  arrived  from  the  States,  and 
were  heartily  welcomed  with  appropriate  songs  and  orches- 
tral music.  Whenever  a  boat  arrived  at  a  point  where  it 
should  turn  into  the  harbor,  the  cornet  played  that  beau- 
tiful refrain,  "  Pull  for  the  shore,"  and  then  everybody 
present  would  join  in  and  make  the  very  hills  ring  with 
the  chorus.  The  effect  on  those  in  the  boats  approach- 
ing was  inspiring,  and  the  brawny  arms  of  the  oarsman 
rowed  in  time  to  the  music.  On  the  evening  previous  to 
our  departure  a  grand  banquet  was  given  us,  by  the  miners 
and  citizens.  We  had  a  delightful  time,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  call  upon  me  for  a  speech,  which  was  impossible 
for  me  to  decline.  I  was  like  the  beaver  that  "had  to 
climb," — I  had  to  speak. 

Fort  Resolution  is  the  first  place  on  the  route  where 
miners'  laws  are  in  force  (as  they  make  their  laws  them- 
selves), because  the  place  is  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  mounted  police  or  of  any  other  civil  or  military  tribu- 
nals. While  we  were  there  an  interesting  suit  was  sub- 
mitted to  a  jury  of  six,  and  was  disposed  of  satisfactorily. 
The  miners'  code  is,  "Equality  before  the  law."  This 
"  high  court  of  justice"  is  always  ready,  in  all  the  min- 
ing districts  beyond  courts  of  justice,  night  or  day,  to 
listen  to  any  grievance  that  may  exist  in  the  community. 
Although  harsh  to  the  offender,  the  effect  inspires  evil- 
doers to  deeds  of  righteousness,  and  might  be  adopted 
with  good  effect  in  many  localities  where  the  laws  are  ad- 
ministered in  a  farcical  manner. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 


METEOROLOGICAL  PHENOMENA 

u  TOTAL  DARKNESS"  AND  "  EVERLASTING  DAY  "  —  EXTREME 

TEMPERATURE  OF  EACH  MONTH  —  PRECIPITATION  TWELVE 

DEGREES  BELOW  ZERO  IN  THE  CABIN  BEFORE  A  ROUSING 
FIRE — IRON    OR    STEEL    WAS  SO  COLD   IT    COULD  NOT  BE 

TOUCHED  WITH  SAFETY  BRILLIANT  DISPLAYS  OF  AURORA 

BOREALIS  —  TWO  VARIETIES  GRAPHICALLY  DESCRIBED  — 
WONDERFUL  PARHELIA  (  MOCK  SUNS ) — ICE  UPHEAVAL 
ON  THE  GREAT  LAKES. 

THE  meteorological  phenomena  of  the  Arctic  region 
are  its  most  interesting  feature.  The  intensity 
of  the  cold  in  "  The  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun  " 
is  something  hardly  conceivable  by  those  who  live 
where  the  thermometer  never  falls  more  than  forty  de- 
grees below  zero.  During  the  short  summer  of  nearly 
three  months,  when  the  sun  for  nearly  half  that  time  is 
constantly  above  the  horizon,  the  mean  temperature  is 
about  sixty  above  zero ;  sinking  to  thirty-five  above  when 
the  sun  reaches  its  lowest  point.  During  three  months  of 
the  long  nine  months  of  winter,  nearly  one  and  a  half 
months  of  that  time  the  sun  is  constantly  below  the  hori- 
zon ;  then  comes  the  intense  cold  of  the  Arctic  night. 

Excepting  the  period  of  the  constant  appearance  of  the 
sun  above  the  horizon  and  its  disappearance  below,  it 
rises  and  sets  every  day.  The  time  from  the  first  appear- 
ance (or  sunrise)  above  the  horizon,  after  the  long  night, 
to  that  point  where  it  disappears  (or  sunset),  is  so  short 
that  the  change  from  daylight  to  darkness  is  very  rapid. 

—  27  (417) 


418 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


As  the  distance  of  the  point  from  sunrise  to  sunset  in- 
creases or  decreases  from  day  to  day,  the  continuance  of 
sunlight  or  darkness  of  course  increases  correspondingly ; 
so  that  the  day  or  night  proper  varies  gradually  from  one 
minute  in  length  to  forty  days  of  twenty-four  hours  each. 

The  above  phenomena  of  the  varying  length  of  the  day 
and  night  apply  to  the  most  northerly  region  we  attained 
( two  hundred  miles  within  the  Arctic  Circle) .  Of  course, 
north  of  us  to  the  very  Pole  the  day  and  night  materially 
increase  in  length,  while  south  of  us  the  reverse  is  the 
case. 

The  lowest  temperature  experienced  by  us  during  our 
sojourn  in  the  north  was  at  Fort  Reliance,  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  9th  of  January,  when  the  thermometer  regis- 
tered sixty-eight  degrees  below  zero. 

It  would  require  too  much  space  to  present  in  tabulated 
form  all  the  variations  of  temperature  during  the  whole 
period  of  my  absence  from  the  United  States.  I  there- 
fore submit  only  that  of  the  coldest  and  warmest  day  in 
each  month,  for  a  period  of  eight  and  a  half  months  of 
winter.  I  commenced  keeping  a  meteorological  record  at 
Fort  Reliance,  on  the  1st  of  October,  1897.  My  instru- 
ment was  a  spirit  Fahrenheit  thermometer,  registering  to 
eighty  below  zero.  It  was  hung  against  the  logs  on  the 
south  side  of  our  cabin,  the  only  place  in  which  it  could 
be  put,  there  being  not  even  a  tree  in  the  vicinity  from 
which  to  suspend  it.  It  could  not  be  detached  from  the 
building,  on  account  of  the  wind.  Of  course  there  must 
have  been  considerable  radiation  from  the  heat  inside  the 
building,  and  my  figures  are  merely  approximate  to  the 
real  temperature. 

When  on  our  hunt  after  musk-oxen  we  carried  a  ther- 
mometer suspended  under  the  curved  neck  of  our  carryall. 

The  first  time  the  thermometer  indicated  zero  was  at 
Fort  Reliance,  at  sunrise  on  the  morning  of  the  10th  of 
October;  at  noon  on  the  2d  it  registered  forty-two  above, 
the  warmest  day  of  the  month.    On  the  morning  of  the 


TEMPERATURES  AT  FORT  RELIANCE 


419 


30th,  twenty-one  below;  November  29th,  forty-eight  be- 
low ;  the  9th  was  the  warmest  day,  sixteen  above  at  noon. 
December  14th,  fifty-three  below;  the  warmest  day  the 
10th,  nine  above.  The  coldest  day  was  January  9th,  six- 
ty-eight degrees  below;  the  warmest  day,  28th,  ten  below. 
February  16th,  fifty-nine  below;  the  warmest  day  the  2d, 
six  above.  March  17th,  forty-one  below;  the  warmest 
day  the  20th,  forty-nine  above  at  noon.  April  18th, 
twelve  below;  the  warmest  on  the  5th,  fifty  above.  May 
10th,  nine  above;  the  warmest  on  the  29th,  seventy-five 
above.  Here  my  record  ends,  with  the  exception  of  fif- 
teen days'  observation  in  June,  the  coldest  day  of  which 
was  the  14th,  thirteen  above;  the  warmest  on  the  5th, 
seventy-three  above.  I  have  thus  covered  the  larger  por- 
tion of  the  year,  which  to  those  interested  will  furnish  an 
approximately  correct  record  of  the  temperature  of  that 
region. 

The  total  amount  of  snow  which  fell  during  the  eight 
months  and  a  half,  in  which  I  kept  as  careful  a  record  as 
possible,  was  four  feet  seven  and  one-half  inches ;  and 
the  greatest  depth  in  any  one  day  was  seven  inches,  on  the 
eleventh  of  June. 

Referring  to  Captain  Back's  journey  again,  he  says,  al- 
luding to  the  subject  of  temperature  :  "  Such,  indeed,  was 
the  abstraction  of  heat,  that  with  eight  large  logs  of  dry 
wood  on  the  fire,  I  could  not  get  the  thermometer  higher 
than  twelve  degrees  below  zero.  The  skin  of  the  hands 
became  dry,  cracked  and  opened  into  unsightly  and  smart- 
ing gashes,  which  we  were  obliged  to  anoint  with  grease. 
On  one  occasion,  after  washing  my  face  within  three  feet 
of  the  fire,  my  hair  was  actually  clotted  with  ice  before  I 
had  time  to  dry  it." 

Captain  Back  further  states  that  "the  hunters  suffered 
severely  from  the  intensity  of  the  cold,  and  compared 
the  sensation  of  handling  their  guns  to  that  of  touching 
red-hot  iron ;  and  so  excessive  was  the  pain  that  they 
were  obliged  to  wrap  thongs  of  leather  around  the  trig- 


420 


FORTY  YEARS  OF  ADVENTURES 


gers  to  keep  their  fingers  from  coming  in  contact  with 
the  steel." 

Mr.  Rea  and  myself  experienced  the  same  sensation  in 
handling  our  weapons  during  the  intensely  cold  weather, 
as  that  related  by  Captain  Back.  Not  only  was  this  con- 
fined to  metal,  but  our  wooden  axe-handles,  which  had 
been  lying  out  of  doors,  seemed  to  burn  us.  In  touch- 
ing the  trigger  of  my  rifle,  the  same  feeling  was  experi- 
enced. Several  times  while  out  hunting,  my  trigger-finger 
and  those  by  which  I  grasped  the  trigger-guard  were 
badly  frosted.  In  order  to  prevent  such  an  occurrence 
again,  I  constructed  a  finger  on  my  mitten,  wearing 
another  mitten  over  it,  which  I  pulled  off  when  I  fired. 
We  were  obliged  to  keep  our  hair  and  whiskers  cropped 
short,  as  icicles  formed  on  them  in  great  masses,  caused 
from  our  breath,  and  steam  from  the  heat  of  our  bodies. 

There  is  a  variety  of  celestial  phenomena  in  the  far 
North.  I  had  often  witnessed  displays  of  the  aurora  in 
lower  latitudes  when  a  boy  in  my  eastern  home,  and 
imagined  that  it  made  its  appearance  only  during  the 
coldest  weather;  the  more  intense  the  cold,  the  more 
brilliant  the  phenomenon.  In  the  high  latitude  where 
we  were,  it  was  not  at  all  at  the  time  of  lowest  tem- 
perature that  the  display  was  the  finest;  in  fact,  during 
some  of  the  coldest  nights,  there  was  not  the  faintest 
"  streamer  "  visible. 

The  most  brilliant  and  wonderfully  beautiful  visitation 
of  the  aurora  that  it  has  ever  been  my  fortune  to  witness, 
occurred  on  the  evening  of  the  15th  of  August,  1897, 
while  floating  down  Slave  river  in  my  boat,  about  fifty 
miles  south  of  its  entrance  into  Great  Slave  lake.  The 
spectacle  was  so  sublime  and  awe-inspiring,  language 
fails  to  properly  convey  to  the  reader  an  idea  of  its  mag- 
nificence. It  commenced  about  eleven  o'clock  at  night; 
the  wind  blowing  freshly  from  the  northeast.  I  almost 
fancied  that  this  gorgeous  display  in  the  heavens,  so  glo- 
rious in  its  sublimity,  was  made  for  my  special  vision. 


THE  AURORA  BOREALIS 


421 


Suddenly,  brilliant  and  many-hued  "streamers"  began 
to  form  in  the  southwest,  gradually  expanding  in  length 
until  they  reached  the  zenith ;  laterals  at  the  same  mo- 
ment stretched  across  the  whole  breadth  of  the  firmament. 
The  great  cloud  of  red  glowed  with  the  intensity  of  incan- 
descent hydrogen.  As  I  gazed  on  it  I  could  not  help 
comparing  it  to  the  traditional  pillar  of  fire  recorded  in 
Holy  Writ,  which  guided  the  children  of  Israel  through 
the  desert.  Not  only  did  the  color  simulate  the  brilliancy 
of  the  glow  of  the  ignited  gas  above  referred  to,  but  there 
was  a  constant  play  running  through  all  the  shades  of  the 
solar  spectrum.  The  compact  form  of  the  phenomenon 
did  not  last  more  than  thirty  minutes,  when  it  gradually 
unfolded  in  graceful  festoons,  one  below  the  other,  at  a 
distance  of  about  two  degrees  apart,  stretching  across  the 
whole  heavens  like  the  most  exquisite  drapery,  which 
gathered  in  a  plaiting  at  the  top,  drooped  into  radiating 
folds  at  the  bottom.  These  beautifully  variegated  cur- 
tains appeared  in  three  separate  pieces :  the  top  of  the 
first  was  tinged  with  gray,  blending  gradually  into  all 
the  colors  known  to  art;  the  second  increasing  in  its 
marvelous  play  of  shading ;  while  the  lower  one,  if  possi- 
ble, exceeded  the  others  in  brilliance.  They  moved  rap- 
idly against  the  wind,  passing  directly  over  me  as  I  stood 
entranced  by  the  glorious  spectacle,  seemingly  so  near 
that  I  might  have  touched  them.  The  rapid  change  of 
the  many  colors  which  marked  the  folds  as  they  passed 
over,  simulated  a  rich  changeable  silk  dress  of  some  society 
queen,  as  its  wearer  passes  under  the  most  brilliant  elec- 
trical illumination  of  the  ball-room.  For  more  than  an 
hour  the  glorious  vision  floated  in  the  air,  in  swift  motion 
like  the  most  graceful  figures  of  the  serpentine  dance. 

I  frequently  witnessed  other  displays  of  the  aurora  dur- 
ing the  long  winter  of  1897-8,  but  their  appearance  was 
marked  in  its  difference  from  this.  They  usually  ap- 
peared like  molten  fire  at  the  center,  then  radiated  off 
like  a  thin  cloud  extending  across  the  heavens,  with 


422 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


flashing  points  in  all  directions,  which  quickly  receded  to 
a  common  center.  They  were  beautiful,  it  is  true;  but 
nothing  comparable  to  the  one  I  have  attempted  to  de- 
scribe, had  ever  before  or  since  been  seen  by  me. 

Frequently  the  most  brilliant  "  sun-dogs,"  or  "mock 
suns,"  (so-called  colloquially,  but  known  as  parhelia  in 
scientific  parlance,)  occurred.  I  witnessed  one  of  these 
phenomena  on  the  4th  of  December.  This  was  one  of 
the  very  rare  double  parhelia  —  four  "mock  suns,"  in- 
stead of  two.  They  were  so  brilliant  that  it  would  have 
been  a  difficult  matter  to  distinguish  the  false  from  the 
true,  did  not  one  know  that  the  mock  suns  are  always  on 
each  side  of  the  real. 

Referring  to  the  aurora  again :  It  has  been  asserted  by 
some  explorers  that  there  is  sometimes  a  crackling  noise 
accompanying  its  display,  but  I  have  never  heard  it.  I 
have,  however,  distinctly  heard  a  crunching  sound  at  the 
time  of  its  appearance,  but  I  am  certain  it  was  caused  by 
ice  forming  on  the  lakes ;  it  was  so  loud  that  frequently 
it  resembled  distant  thunder.  That  it  proceeded  from 
the  ice,  I  am  satisfied,  because  I  often  saw,  during  the 
absence  of  the  aurora,  great  masses  of  ice,  sometimes  ex- 
tending for  twenty  miles,  thrown  up  in  the  similitude  of 
the  roof  of  a  house,  ranging  in  height  from  five  to  seven 
feet ;  and  the  accompanying  noise  was  like  that  heard  at 
the  time  of  an  auroral  display. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 


INDIANS  AND  ESKIMOS  OF  THE  FAR  NORTH. 

{JREATLY    DIFFERENT    FROM    THE    INDIANS   OF   THE  UNITED 

STATES  —  MODE  OF  LIVING  IN  THE  LAND  OF  DARKNESS  

THE  WOMEN  ARE  SLAVES  —  THESE  INDIANS  NEVER  EAT 
FRUIT,  VEGETABLES,  OR  BREAD  —  MEAT  AND  FISH  THEIR 
ONLY  DIET  —  THE  MARRIAGE  RELATION  —  NUMBER  OF 
TRIBES  IN  THE  FAR  NORTH,  AND  THEIR  LOCATIONS  — 
THEIR  HABITS  AND  DWELLINGS  DEGREE  OF  INTELLI- 
GENCE —  ENORMOUSLY  SUPERSTITIOUS  THEIR  TRADI- 
TIONAL HISTORY  OF  THE  FLOOD  SKILL  IN  FORETELLING 

STORMS  —  NO  DISEASE  AMONG  THEM  UNTIL  THE  WHITE 
MAN  CAME  —  THE  "  HAPPIEST  PEOPLE  ON  EARTH  " — EDU- 
CATION RUINS  ALL  THAT  TRY  IT. 

THERE  is  the  widest  variance  in  the  characteristics, 
both  mental  and  physical,  of  the  northern  In- 
dians from  those  of  their  race  on  the  great  South- 
ern Plains.  The  former,  like  the  inhabitants  of 
Siberia,  are  exiles,  having  been  driven  by  force  into  the 
desolate  region  they  now  occupy.  The  northern  tribes 
are  lacking  in  that  defiant  and  warlike  spirit  which  pre- 
vails among  their  southern  kinsman.  They  are  neither 
naturally  vicious,  delighting  in  bloodshed  and  brave  in 
Ibattle,  nor  imbued  with  that  pride  and  independence 
which  is  such  a  marked  trait  among  the  savages  of  the 
interior  of  the  continent.  They  are  the  most  consummate 
beggars,  elevating  it  to  an  art,  as  sympathetic  as  that 

(423) 


424 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


which  characterizes  the  methods  of  the  professional  men- 
dicants of  the  advanced  civilization  of  our  great  cities. 
They  are  ever  humble  in  the  presence  of  the  dominant 
white  race,  never  attempting  to  arrogate  to  themselves 
that  spirit  of  superiority  always  assumed  by  the  Sioux, 
Cheyennes,  Kiowas,  or  Comanches. 

They  are  always  asking  for  food  from  the  whites  with 
whom  they  come  in  contact,  no  matter  how  much  they 
may  have  stored  in  the  shape  of  provisions.  They  com- 
mence to  beg,  the  moment  the  ceremony  of  shaking  hands 
is  gone  through  with,  which  is  invariably  accompanied  by 
the  assertion:  "Dennie,  bur  hula"  (u  Indian,  meat 
none  ").  If  they  have  reason  to  believe  you  have  tobacco 
or  tea,  which  they  inordinately  crave,  they  always  declare 
they  have  none.  Giving  to  them  does  not  by  any  means 
end  with  the  act :  you  are  sure  to  be  visited  by  the  whole 
of  the  tribe  who  may  happen  to  be  in  the  neighborhood  of 
your  camp,  and  these  are  more  persistent  in  their  claim 
for  alms  than  were  the  original  callers. 

They  possess,  however,  some  commendable  traits,  which 
could  be  emulated  at  times  by  the  dominant  white  race 
to  its  advantage.  They  will  divide  their  last  morsel  of 
food  with  each  other,  and  none  are  allowed  to  go  hun- 
gry so  long  as  there  is  a  bite  left  in  the  village.  I  have  seen 
them  so  fearfully  in  want  of  something  to  eat  that  they 
would  watch  for  a  dog  to  scratch  up  a  bit  he  had  buried 
for  future  use,  and  choke  him  until  he  dropped  it  on  the 
ground,  when  they  would  divide  it  among  those  who 
stood  about  them.  If  one  Indian  has  anything,  they  all 
have,  which  proves  that  they  are  as  free  from  selfishness 
as  they  are  from  cleanliness. 

They  do  not  live  in  houses,  but  in  teepees,  made  of 
tanned  hides  of  reindeer.  These  hides  are  usually  perfo- 
rated, the  holes  being  about  the  size  of  a  large  lead- 
pencil,  made  by  a  grub  that  hatches  from  eggs  deposited 
just  under  the  skin  on  the  living  animal  by  a  fly,  as  is 
sometimes  the  case  with  our  domestic  cattle.   These  holes 


HABITS  AND  CUSTOMS  OF  THE  NORTHERN  INDIANS  425 

in  the  covering  of  their  lodges  provide  excellent  ventila- 
tion,—  which,  however,  is  not  at  all  necessary  in  that  cold 
country.  Their  fire  is  built  in  the  center  of  the  teepee, 
the  same  as  in  the  lodge  of  a  southern  Indian,  but  they 
do  not  appear  to  have  a  proper  idea  of  a  draft  as  do  the 
latter,  by  an  apparatus  affixed  to  the  top ;  the  northern 
Indians  effecting  it  by  raising  the  lower  ends  of  the  skins 
forming  the  walls  of  their  houses.  Their  seats  are  boughs 
of  trees,  or  the  natural  floor  of  earth ;  but  they  sometimes 
use  reindeer-skin  mats. 

The  mode  of  reclining,  on  the  part  of  the  men,  is  to 
double  up  their  legs  like  a  tailor  on  his  bench ;  while  the 
women  throw  theirs  back,  as  did  the  Romans  while  eat- 
ing. None  of  the  inhabitants  of  a  lodge  stand  up  for  any 
length  of  time ;  as  the  smoke  which  rolls  above  in  clouds 
about  four  feet  from  the  floor  would  asphixiate  them.  As 
a  means  of  entrance  and  exit  from  the  teepee,  a  hole  is 
made  at  one  side,  and  covered  with  a  large  deerskin,  at 
the  bottom  of  which  a  stick  is  sewed  to  hold  it  in  posi- 
tion ;  its  top  merely  fastened  by  a  hide  string  from  the 
wall  of  the  teepee  above  the  opening.  In  these  rude 
lodges  they  dwell,  even  when  the  thermometer  ranges 
from  sixty  to  seventy  degrees  below  zero. 

Those  who  have  been  successful  in  hunting  and  are  pos- 
sessed of  a  sufficient  amount  of  furs,  clothe  themselves 
similar  to  white  people,  often  traveling  many  hundreds 
of  miles  to  trade  their  furs  to  the  white  men  for  such 
goods  as  they  bring  into  the  country.  In  winter  they 
wear  capotes,  or  frock  coats  made  of  the  skin  of  the  rein- 
deer with  the  hair  on,  having  a  hood  attached  to  cover  the 
head,  all  in  one  piece.  The  children  under  eight  years 
old  have  long  sleeves,  which  are  sewed  up  at  the  ends  so 
they  cannot  get  their  hands  wet  and  freeze  them  during 
the  long  marches  they  are  sometimes  compelled  to  make 
in  moving  from  one  place  to  another.  The  poorer  classes, 
however,  have  to  content  themselves  with  the  same  rude 
garb  of  skins  in  the  summer  which  they  wore  in  the  win- 


426 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


ter ;  but  by  that  time,  the  hair  having  been  completely 
rubbed  off,  the  garment  is  a  trifle  cooler. 

It  is  a  common  thing  for  the  people  to  take  down  their 
lodges  in  the  dead  of  winter  and  march  one  or  two  hun- 
dred miles  to  where  the  deer  are  more  plentiful. 

The  women  are  virtually  slaves.  They  do  all  the  wrork, 
as  well  as  drive  the  dog  teams ;  while  their  lords  do  noth- 
ing but  pretend  to  look  for  game.  When  the  village  is 
moved,  the  men  are  promptly  on  hand  the  moment  the 
women  have  erected  the  lodges  and  a  brisk  fire  is  burning 
inside. 

The  children  are  carried,  wrapped  in  furs,  on  the  backs 
of  their  mothers,  until  they  are  three  or  four  years  of  age. 
Often  I  have  seen  them  as  large  as  some  of  our  American 
school  children,  being  carried  in  such  fashion.  They 
sometimes  make  life  hideous,  as  they  resist  being  loaded 
and  carried  in  such  a  cramped  position ;  and  kick  their 
mother  until  allowed  to  nurse  at  her  breast.  They  are  so 
unruly,  the  mothers  are  often  compelled  to  crawl  over 
slippery  ice  on  their  hands  and  knees,  for  fear  of  losing 
their  balance  from  the  struggling  of  the  children,  in  their 
fits  of  anger.  They  reminded  me  of  a  large  pig  which  I 
once  endeavored  to  carry  on  horseback. 

These  Indians  seldom,  if  ever,  get  a  taste  of  bread, 
fruit,  or  vegetables,  and  when  they  do,  regard  them  as 
the  greatest  luxury.  A  simple  biscuit  is  a  rare  treat  for 
them. 

In  religion  they  are  generally  claimed  by  the  Catholics, 
but  some  have  been  taught  the  Protestant  faith.  I  am 
inclined  to  think,  however,  that  they  have  but  a  limited 
idea  of  holy  things,  save  what  has  been  impressed  upon 
them  by  the  traditions  of  the  tribe, —  that  after  death, 
for  good  Indians,  there  is  a  "Great  Spirit"  and  a 
u  happy  hunting-ground."  Many  of  them  may  be  seen 
to  cross  themselves  and  mutter  some  "pater"  or  "ave" 
on  a  Sabbath  morning,  after  which  the  men  take  their 
guns  and  go  hunting,  or  occupy  the  remainder  of  the  day 


THE  DIFFERENT  TRIBES 


427 


in  their  usual  routine  of  idleness.  Many  of  them  pay  an 
annual  visit  to  the  Catholic  priest  stationed  at  some  Hud- 
son Bay  Company's  post,  to  have  their  record  of  wicked- 
ness for  the  past  year  wiped  out.  They  marry  and  are 
given  in  marriage,  but  are  never  divorced,  and  as  far  as  I 
can  learn  are  considered  virtuous ;  but  this  applies  only 
to  those  who  have  remained  in  their  primitiveness  and 
remote  from  civilization.  There  are  many  widows  and 
orphans  among  the  tribes.  The  widows  never  marry 
again,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  their  relations  to  take  care  of 
them ;  but  I  noticed  they  were  compelled  to  perform  most 
of  the  menial  work  required. 

These  people  seldom  wash  themselves,  and  are  there- 
fore exceedingly  filthy,  greasy,  and  swarming  with  vermin. 
They  are  very  deceitful,  and  never  pay  a  debt  if  they  can 
by  any  means  avoid  it.  They  are  very  cunning  in  their 
transactions  with  the  whites,  and  unless  one  is  familiar 
with  their  methods,  he  is  certain  to  be  outwitted  in  any 
compact  entered  into  with  them. 

A  half-dozen  or  more  tribes  occupy  the  frozen  region 
beyond  the  Athabaska  lake,  as  follows :  The  Chippeway- 
ans,  who  range  as  far  north  as  Great  Slave  lake ;  the  Slave 
tribe,  located  along  the  western  shore  of  that  sheet  of 
water  and  the  Slave  river;  the  Yellow  Knife  tribe  has 
possession  of  the  east  end  of  the  lake,  and  they  range  as 
far  in  that  direction  as  the  river  Doobaunt,  and  north- 
ward to  the  Clinton  Golden  lake.  The  Dog-rib  tribe  roam 
at  will  over  the  country  east  of  the  Mackenzie  river,  and 
between  the  Great  Slave  and  Great  Bear  lakes.  All  hunt 
the  musk-ox  east  and  west  of  Clinton  Golden  lake,  while 
some  have  ventured  as  far  north  as  the  Great  Fish  river. 
All  the  tribes  fear  the  Eskimos,  and  always  avoid  them  if 
possible, —  especially  during  the  summer,  when  the  Eski- 
mos come  farther  south  than  at  any  other  season  of  the 
year.  In  winter  the  Indians  roam  everywhere  at  will. 
All  understand  the  Slave  tribe  language,  and  converse  in 
it  whenever  people  of  different  tribes  meet. 


428 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


Strange  as  it  may  appear,  these  Indians  have  no  chiefs 
among  them,  but  there  are  always  to  be  found  men  of  su- 
perior ability  to  the  masses,  who  are  looked  up  to  for 
counsel.  The  Dog-rib  tribe  has  a  pretended  chief,  but 
his  power  is  so  limited  he  has  little  claim  to  the  title. 

The  bark  of  the  birch  tree  is  quite  an  important  article 
in  their  domestic  economy.  Buckets  are  made  from  it,  in 
which  to  carry  water,  the  seams  and  knot-holes  being 
sealed  up  with  gum  from  spruce  trees ;  and  their  beauti- 
ful canoes  and  many  other  articles  are  constructed  from 
the  same  light  material. 

Their  habits  in  eating  are  most  disgusting.  The  meat 
and  fish,  their  only  food,  are  usually  boiled,  in  which  pro- 
cess they  use  sheet-iron  pots.  The  flesh  is  allowed  to  cook 
until  the  blood  no  longer  runs  from  it ;  it  is  then  emptied 
on  a  tin  or  birch-bark  plate,  when  each  individual  seizes 
a  large  piece  with  the  left  hand,  placing  one  corner  of 
it  between  the  teeth,  and  mouthful  after  mouthful  is 
cut  off  with  a  huge  butcher-knife  until  he  is  gorged. 
This  is  the  customary  manner  of  eating  which  all  Indians, 
whether  northern  or  southern,  with  whom  I  have  come 
in  contact,  employ.  They  are  capable  of  consuming  twice 
as  much  meat  and  drinking  three  times  as  much  tea 1  as  a 
white  man,  at  a  single  sitting.  Some  writers  claim  the 
Indian  has  no  particular  time  for  eating :  this  is  a  mis- 
take, as  they  do  have  a  time,  and  that  time  is  all  the  time, 
so  long  as  they  have  anything  to  eat.  Both  men  and 
women  are  inveterate  smokers,  after  once  having  learned 
the  habit,  providing  tobacco  can  be  had.  They  often  use 
willow  bark  (  "  kinnikinnick  "  ),  when  tobacco  is  not  ob- 
tainable. 

The  principal  weapon  of  these  Indians  is  a  small  28-cal- 
iber  shotgun,  using  a  ball  for  large  game;  a  few  possess 

1CofEee  is  unknown  to  the  Indians  of  the  far  North,  but  they  all  know  what  tea  is, 
and  drink  great  quantities  of  it  when  they  can  get  it.  I  often  gave  them  a  cup  of 
coffee,  and  they  almost  invariably  would  say,  "Nazzula"  (  no  good).  On  inquiry  at 
the  Hudson  Bay  Company's  posts  on  my  return  home,  I  was  informed  the  company 
never  sent  coffee  to  that  country,  but  always  send  abundance  of  tea,  as  it  is  light,  and 
more  easily  transported. 


INDIAN  CHARACTERISTICS 


429 


small  44-caliber  Winchester  rifles.  When  meat  cannot 
readily  be  procured,  they  resort  to  the  lakes  and  set  nets 
for  fish.  In  winter  they  are  frequently  compelled  to  cut 
holes  in  the  ice  ( which  is  often  four  to  seven  feet  thick ) , 
in  order  to  permit  the  introduction  of  a  net  into  the 
water  below.  They  also  catch  an  immense  number  of 
trout  during  the  winter  with  a  simple  hook  and  line, 
baited  with  morsels  of  whitefish. 

In  summer  the  male  reindeer  becomes  very  fat.  The 
Indians  lie  in  wait  at  the  accustomed  crossing-places  of 
that  animal,  at  the  rivers  and  lakes,  where  from  their 
birch-bark  canoes  they  spear  them  in  great  numbers. 
The  redskins  regard  this  as  right  royal  sport,  while  in 
reality  it  is  most  barbarous,  simply  showing  the  innate 
savage  instinct.  A  true  hunter  would  scorn  any  such 
brutal  method.  In  accordance  with  a  superstitious  tra- 
dition of  the  tribe,  their  first  act  after  killing  a  deer  — 
or  any  other  animal,  in  fact  —  is  to  split  open  the  breast. 
If  a  bird  is  shot,  a  handful  of  feathers  is  plucked  from 
the  same  part  of  its  anatomy,  and  tossed  into  the  air.  I 
could  never  clearly  divine  the  reason  for  this,  but  believe 
it  to  be  for  "good  luck." 

Among  the  Yellow  Knife  tribe  I  met  one  aged  squaw 
who  must  have  been  over  a  hundred  years  old.  Her  figure 
was  bent  half-way  to  the  ground,  and  she  always  lagged  for 
hours  behind  the  rest  of  her  people,  when  on  the  march. 
Some  day,  not  very  remote  in  the  future,  she  will  fail  to 
reach  camp,  and  perish  miserably  by  the  wayside. 

Some  of  the  men  are  able  to  write  so  as  to  be  under- 
stood by  other  Indians,  but  their  chirography  is  merely  a 
system  of  pictographs  or  hieroglyphics  which  an  ordinary 
white  man  cannot  decipher. 

They  are  rather  epicurean  in  their  tastes,  viewed  from 
a  savage  standpoint.  Their  most  luxurious  dishes  are 
the  heads  of  birds,  beasts  and  fishes,  and  the  unborn 
young  of  animals.    The  women  and  children  are  rarely 


430 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


permitted  to  indulge  in  these  savory  morsels,  the  men 
reserving  them  for  themselves. 

I  often  invited  them  to  partake  of  dishes  served  at  our 
table,  consisting  of  vegetables,  canned  fruits,  puddings, 
etc.,  which  they  would  eat,  of  course;  but  it  was  very 
evident  they  did  not  like  them,  for  when  I  would  ask 
them  what  they  thought  of  these  varieties  of  food,  they 
would  flatly  say,  "  Nazzula  "  (no  good),  and  ask  for  grease 
with  which  to  complete  their  meal. 

It  is  not  astonishing  that  the  appetite  for  fatty  sub- 
stances is  so  great  in  the  remote  North,  for,  as  is  well 
known,  the  human  body  is  but  a  furnace,  whose  heat 
must  be  kept  up,  and  requires  that  food  which  contains 
the  greatest  amount  of  carbon. 

It  makes  little  difference  to  the  natives  whether  what 
they  consume  is  half  dirt  and  sand,  or  not,  and  meat 
turned  partially  green  is  seized  with  avidity. 

The  superstitions  of  the  Northern  Indians  are  as  firmly 
rooted  in  their  nature  as  are  the  giant  redwood  trees  of 
California  to  Mother  Earth.  It  would  be  useless  to  try 
to  teach  them  otherwise  in  one  short  year,  so  I  never  at- 
tempted it.  If  the  children  were  isolated  from  their 
parents,  these  traditional  ideas  would  soon  be  eliminated 
from  their  susceptible  minds.  I  have  seen  parents  gather 
a  group  of  their  little  ones  and  half-growrn  Indians  around 
them,  and  for  hours  at  a  time  relate  stories  concerning 
the  origin  of  the  different  animals ;  that  they  were  com- 
pelled to  eat  several  kinds  of  food;  and  the  extent  to 
which  man  was  permitted  to  kill  the  various  beasts  and 
birds  of  their  country.  They  have  been  taught  by  tradi- 
tion many  things  which  in  a  measure  corroborate  history, 
both  sacred  and  profane ;  yet  the  details  are  in  wide  va- 
riance from  those  of  our  own  language  and  belief. 

One  lovely  day  in  May  I  heard  an  old  Indian,  La  Pierre, 
who  was  considered  the  head  of  the  Yellow  Knife  tribe, 
teaching  a  group  of  children,  who  were  seated  on  a  beau- 
tiful carpet  of  moss.    He  was  narrating  to  them  a  story, 


INDIAN  LEGEND  OF  THE  FLOOD 


431 


similar  to  that  of  the  flood,  yet  vastly  different  in  char- 
acters and  circumstances.  As  near  as  I  could  understand, 
the  story  ran  something  like  this : 

Many,  many  years  ago,  the  birds  and  beasts  were  fight- 
ing for  supremacy.  They  fought  great  battles,  and  the 
beasts  were  always  victorious.  Finally  the  birds  had  a 
big  talk  among  themselves,  and  agreed  to  adopt  a  new 
method  of  warfare.  The  eagle  and  the  crane  were  sent  to 
intercede  with  the  Great  Spirit,  and  implore  him  to  with- 
hold the  rain  until  vegetation  was  all  dead,  and  thus 
starve  the  beasts  into  subjection.  They  made  the  ascent 
by  continually  circling  upward,  for  one  moon.  From  that 
4ime  on,  the  rain  did  not  fall  until  all  the  vegetation  had 
died,  and  the  animals  were  without  food.  They  too  would 
have  died  of  thirst,  had  not  the  Great  Bad  Spirit  caught 
a  beaver,  and,  laying  its  tail  on  a  flat  rock,  took  another 
rock  and  pounded  it  until  it  was  flat.  And  from  that 
time  until  this,  the  beaver's  tail  has  retained  that  shape. 

The  Great  Bad  Spirit  told  him  to  make  a  dam,  from 
sticks  and  stones,  and  to  use  his  tail  as  a  trowel  and  plas- 
ter it  with  mud.  This  he  did,  and  thus  a  reservoir  was 
formed  that  furnished  water  foi:  the  beasts.  But  the  ani- 
mals could  not  live  on  water  alone,  and  many  died  of 
hunger.  The  fish  were  all  dead  excepting  those  in  the 
reservoir,  and  the  animals  would  not  let  the  fish-eating 
birds  come  near  it.  At  last  things  became  desperate,  and 
the  loon  rebelled,  and  cried  mightily  for  rain.  The 
Great  Good  Spirit  bent  his  ear  to  listen.  Then  came  the 
rain  in  torrents.  It  was  in  the  spring  of  the  year.  The 
ice  on  the  reservoir  had  melted  from  the  shores,  and  as 
the  rain  came  down,  the  water  washed  from  the  hills, 
great  stones  upon  the  ice.  As  soon  as  the  beasts  saw  that 
a  great  flood  had  come,  some  of  all  kinds  congregated  on 
the  ice,  and  thus  floated  without  seeing  land,  for  two 
moons.  The  rocks  were  so  wet  that  moss  grew  on  those 
that  had  lodged  on  the  ice,  and  the  animals  ate  it  and 
lived.     Finally  the  raven  left  the  ice  for  one  whole 


432 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


day,  and  came  back  with  a  piece  of  reindeer  meat  in  his 
mouth.  Then  the  animals  knew  that  the  flood  had  nearly 
subsided.  Finally  the  ice,  on  which  the  beasts  and  birds 
had  lived  together  with  all  differences  forgotten,  lodged 
against  the  rocks,  on  which  there  was  only  moss,  and 
from  that  time  to  this,  that  land  has  been  a  barren  waste, 
with  only  moss  as  vegetation.  While  the  animals  and 
birds  were  upon  the  ice,  the  musk-ox  was  chosen  king  of 
all,  and  where  it  goes,  all  the  other  animals  are  in  duty 
bound  to  follow  for  protection.  The  musk-ox  under- 
stands all  animals,  also  the  Indians,  who  must  always 
address  that  animal  if  they  are  compelled  to  kill  one  for 
food,  as  it  can  intercede  with  the  Great  Spirit  for  or 
against  them.  Therefore  the  little  Indians  ("yahzas," 
as  they  are  called )  are  taught  to  reverence  the  musk- 
oxen,  and  to  speak  gently  to  them.  That  when  an  Indian 
observes  this  rule,  no  harm  will  ever  visit  him  or  his 
children. 

He  told  them  that  the  loon's  cry  was  a  sure  predic- 
tion of  rain,  and  when  it  was  heard  they  must  put  up 
the  "  napola  "  ( tent ) ,  as  the  rain  was  at  hand ;  and  when 
the  eagles  and  cranes  soared  high,  dry  weather  would  cer- 
tainly ensue. 

Those  little  savages  listened  with  awe,  their  eyes  wide- 
open  in  wonder,  and  they  stood  like  statues  as  the  old 
patriarch  related  his  marvelous  story,  much  as  do  our 
own  children,  cast  in  a  more  refined  mold,  when  listening 
to  the  nursery  tales  of  Cinderella,  Jack  the  Giant-Killer, 
or  Aladdin. 

I  regret  that  I  did  not  record  more  of  the  details.  As 
silly  as  the  recitals  were,  underneath  all  there  may  be 
much  that  would  do  for  comparative  philology  what  the 
folk-lore  of  other  barbarous  peoples  has,  and  in  the  far 
North  there  is  a  field  in  this  particular  worthy  of  inves- 
tigation by  the  philologist.  Could  I  have  understood  all 
the  details  of  their  narrations  at  various  times,  I  could 
fill  a  volume  of  most  interesting  folk-lore. 


ESKIMOS 


433 


It  is  wonderful  how  accurately  the  Northern  Indians 
are  able  to  foretell  the  weather  by  the  actions  of  birds  and 
beasts.  They  would  tell  us  what  the  weather  would  be, 
some  two  or  three  days  in  advance,  and  I  never  knew 
them  to  fail  in  their  predictions.  The  loon's  cry,  we 
found,  was  a  sure  barometer,  when  rain  was  to  be  ex- 
pected. Dry  weather  is  indicated  by  the  flight  of  cranes 
and  eagles,  when  they  soar  high,  in  circles.  Before  a 
•storm,  in  winter  or  summer,  the  reindeer  are  continually 
on  the  move  in  the  valleys,  but  in  dry  weather  they  are 
seen  resting  contentedly  on  the  hillsides. 

I  met  many  Eskimos  during  my  journey  in  the  North. 
They  are  a  very  short,  heavy-set  race,  with  flat  noses  and 
high  cheek-bones.  They  resemble  the  Chinese  in  many 
particulars :  in  size,  color,  appearance  of  the  eyes,  and 
other  racial  features.  They  very  rarely  see  a  white  man, 
therefore  such  as  never  mingled  with  the  palefaces  have 
never  learned  what  whisky  and  tobacco  are.  They  are  ac- 
quainted with  but  few  of  the  deceits  practiced  by  those 
Indians  who  have  been  associated  with  the  whites.  They 
are  the  very  impersonation  of  robust  health,  never  hav- 
ing been  contaminated  by  those  diseases  common  among 
the  Indians  who  have  come  in  contact  with  unscrupu- 
lous white  men. 

The  mortality  among  the  tribes  seems  to  be  evenly  bal- 
anced by  the  births;  so  there  is  no  increase,  or  it  is  at 
least  scarcely  appreciable  for  a  long  period.  The  general 
health  of  the  tribes,  notwithstanding  the  filthy  habits  of 
individuals,  is  excellent.  Until  recently  there  were  no 
contagious  diseases,  and  were  it  not  for  their  insufficient 
shelter,  lack  of  proper  clothing,  and  scarcity  of  food, 
they  would  probably  increase  in  a  ratio  comparable  to 
other  peoples.  Since  the  great  inrush  to  the  gold-fields 
of  Alaska,  the  grip,  measles,  whooping-cough  and  mumps 
have  been  carried  there,  and  no  doubt  will  spread 
throughout  that  whole  Northern  country ;  and  owing  to 
their  lack  of  medicines,  comfortable  shelter,  and  cloth- 
—  28 


434 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


ing,  many  will  be  carried  off  by  these  diseases  in  that 
fitful  climate. 

Heretofore  they  have  never  been  troubled  with  disease, 
and  their  lot  has  certainly  been  a  happy  one,  excepting 
when  out  of  food, —  for  to  them,  "  where  ignorance  is 
bliss,  'tis  folly  to  be  wise.'7  They  are  as  simple  as  were 
Adam  and  Eve  in  the  Garden  before  touching  the  for- 
bidden fruit.  It  is  a  falsely  directed  sympathy  that  sug- 
gests the  sending  of  missionaries  among  them.  While  the 
advocates  of  such  measures  are  entirely  honest  in  their 
intentions,  yet  in  their  ignorance  of  the  real  status  of 
those  remote  Northern  people,  they  do  not  realize  that 
such  action  would  only  bring  misery  and  trouble  where 
absolute  happiness  reigns  supreme. 

Let  them  alone !  Do  not  disturb  them  in  their  inno- 
cence. They  are  infinitely  happier  than  the  Indians  in 
some  other  portions  of  the  far  North,  where  they  have 
been  broken  up  into  different  grades  of  civilization  by 
missionary  schools.  It  is  almost  universally  the  case 
that  the  partially  educated  Indians  there  have  come  to  be 
lazy,  good-for-nothing,  starving  beggars;  while  the  girls 
are  of  the  same  disposition,  and  almost  invariably  become 
prostitutes.  There  is  no  opportunity  for  them  to  obtain 
a  subsistence,  excepting  they  join  their  tribe  again,  which 
they  never  do.  They  appear  to  be  too  good  or  too  ten- 
der to  associate  with  their  kindred.  They  neither  hunt 
nor  fish  for  a  living,  but  lie  around  the  posts,  starving 
themselves  and  their  families.  An  Indian  or  Eskimo 
who  has  never  been  spoiled  by  missionary  educators,  is  a 
thousand  times  better  off  than  those  who  have  been  petted 
and  taught  some  of  the  white  man's  cunning  ways. 

I  do  not  write  this  from  any  prejudice  toward  any  sect 
or  church,  as  I  always  encourage  missionary  work  with 
my  dimes  and  dollars.  But  I  would  say  to  all  lovers  of 
Christianity,  invest  your  money  and  exercise  your  talents 
in  some  other  direction  ;  and  let  all  the  Indians  and  Es- 
kimos that  governments  are  not  ready  to  entirely  support, 


NATIVES  SHOULD  BE  LET  ALONE  435 

go  their  way  in  peace, —  excepting  those  tribes  that  are 
able  to  at  least  help  sustain  themselves  in  a  country  sus- 
ceptible to  agriculture.  If  Indians  and  Eskimos  have 
existed,  as  we  certainly  know  they  have,  from  a  period 
which  antedates  the  white  man's  advent  into  North 
America,  they  can  and  surely  will,  if  let  alone,  take  care 
of  themselves  in  the  future  as  in  the  past.  When  the  last 
of  the  reindeer  and  musk-oxen  have  passed  out  of  exist- 
ence, and  the  fish  have  disappeared  from  the  lakes  and 
oceans ;  when  the  whale,  walrus  and  seal  are  no  more, 
and  the  governments  gather  in  the  waifs  to  feed  and 
clothe  them,  or  they  have  been  deported  to  a  more  sunny 
clime  to  follow  civilized  pursuits,  then  and  not  before,  will 
it  be  time  to  school  and  preach  to  these  far-away  happy 
souls. 

To  be  sure,  there  are  times  when  starvation  stares  the 
Indians  and  Eskimos  in  the  face,  and  then  they  are  of  all 
men  most  miserable.  At  such  times  missionaries  and 
education  are  to  them  of  no  avail.  To  ameliorate  the 
condition  of  these  poor  creatures,"  I  would  suggest  to 
those  who  desire  to  help  them,  send  them  good  guns 
and  ammunition.  If  they  were  thus  provided  and 
equipped,  such  occurrences  as  we  witnessed  in  November, 
1897,  and  the  condition  described  by  Capt.  Back,  would 
seldom  be  known. 

Capt.  Back,  whose  admirable  journal  I  have  referred  to 
above,  says,  in  writing  of  the  miserable  condition  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  region  after  their  eatables  had  become 
exhausted : 

44  As  the  winter  advanced,  bands  of  starving  Indians 
continued  to  arrive,  in  the  hope  of  obtaining  some  relief, 
as  little  or  nothing  was  to  be  procured  by  hunting. 
They  would  stand  around  while  the  men  were  taking  their 
meals,  watching  every  mouthful  with  the  most  longing, 
imploring  look,  but  yet  never  uttering  a  complaint. 

4  4  At  other  times  they  would,  seated  around  the  fire, 


436 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


occupy  themselves  in  roasting  and  devouring  small  bits 
of  their  reindeer  garments,  which,  even  when  entire,  af- 
forded them  a  very  insufficient  protection  against  a  tem- 
perature of  102°  below  freezing-point. 

"  Famine,  with  her  gaunt  and  bony  arm,  pursued  them 
at  every  turn,  withered  their  energies,  and  strewed  them 
lifeless  on  the  cold  bosom  of  the  snow.  Often  I  did  share 
my  own  plate  with  the  children,  whose  helpless  fate  and 
piteous  cries  were  peculiarly  distressing.  Compassion 
for  the  full-grown  may  or  may  not  be  felt,  but  that  heart 
must  be  cased  in  steel  which  is  insensible  to  the  cry  of  a 
child  for  food." 

I  have  interpolated  thus  much  of  Capt.  Back's  report, 
to  confirm  my  own  statements.  Our  experience  among 
them  was  the  same  as  his  in  every  particular,  excepting 
that  anything  he  asked  from  the  Indians  was  cheerfully 
granted  if  possible ;  while  to  us  it  was  denied  in  almost 
every  instance,  and  we  were  opposed  at  all  points  by  their 
hostility  to  our  mission.  Capt.  Back  doubtless  suppressed, 
as  I  have,  a  great  deal  that  would  be  too  revolting  and 
shock  the  sensibilities  of  a  refined  civilization.  The  facts, 
however,  prove  that  history  repeats  itself,  as  well  among 
the  savages  as  in  the  most  enlightened  race,  and  that  the 
unerring  law  of  heredity  is  as  strongly  marked  in  the  one 
as  in  the  other. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 


HOMEWAED  BOUND 

CAUGHT  IN  A  STORM  ON  THE  GEE  AT  INLAND  SEA  RUDDER 

BREAKS    AND    WAVES    ROLL  OVER  THEIR  SMALL  CRAFT  

AN  ACCOMPANYING  BOAT  IS  CAPSIZED  AND  DASHED  UPON 
THE  ROCKS  —  ON  THE  GREAT  MACKENZIE  RIVER  —  FORT 
PROVIDENCE  —  CATHOLIC    PRIEST    WHO    NEEDS  ATTENTION 

—  VISIT    TO    FORT    FRANKLIN  ON  THE  GREAT  BEAR  LAKE 

—  A  DESOLATE  SPECTACLE  —  PICTURE  OF  SIR  JOHN  FRANK- 
LIN'S  OLD  CABIN  —  HURLED  THROUGH  THE  RAMPARTS  — 
CROSS  THE  ARCTIC  CIRCLE  —  PHOTOGRAPH  OF  THE  CHURCH 

AT  FORT  GOOD  HOPE  —  A  SAIL  ON    THE   ARCTIC  OCEAN  

UP    reel's    RIVER    TO    RAT    RIVER,    WHERE  HUNDREDS 

were  caught  in  a  human  deadfall  —  mountains  cut 
them  off  from  the  golden  el  dorado  —  new  route 
across  the  divide  —  shooting  down  the  cascades  on 

the  waters  of  the  pacific  boat  smashed  on  a 

rock  —  long  journey  down  the  porcupine  river  

journey  to  st.  michael's  —  equinoctial  storm  on 

bering  sea  seattle  reached  grand  reception  

everybody  sang,  "  my  country,  'tis  of  thee  "  and 
"home,  sweet  home." 

ON  Sunday  evening,  July  17th,  the  sun  was  far 
around  to  the  northwest ;  the  wind  changed  from 
north  to  northeast,  blowing  a  stiff  breeze,  yet 
not  too  hard  for  expert  sailors  with  good  boats 
to  make  a  safe  voyage  across  the  Great  Slave  lake.  Three 
fine  boats  with  good  seamen,  which  arrived  the  previous 

(437) 


438 


FORTY  YEARS  OF  ADVENTURES 


evening,  hove  off  shore  and  darted  to  the  southwest  in 
the  direction  of  the  great  Mackenzie  river. 

Our  little  yacht  or  skiff  was  quickly  loaded  and  pushed 
from  its  moorings.  Mr.  Rea  seated  himself  on  the  pilot- 
box  and  I  unfurled  the  broad  sail.  The  boat  nobly  re- 
sponded to  the  stiff  wind,  and  shot  into  the  "  great  inland 
sea." 

A  mighty  shout  of  three  cheers  from  those  on  shore, 
appeared  to  rend  the  skies.  I  waved  my  hat  in  response 
and  Mr.  Rea  threw  up  one  hand, —  all  he  could  do,  the 
other  being  engaged  at  the  rudder.  We  were  now  off  for 
our  far-away  homes,  by  way  of  that  El  Dorado  of  so 
many  anxious  hearts.  When  the  orchestra  started  up  a 
very  appropriate  refrain,  "There's  a  land  that  is  fairer 
than  day,"  etc.,  it  appeared  to  carry  my  soul  beyond 
that  dreary,  desolate  region,  and  to  my  native  land  once 
more.  I  stood  swaying  from  side  to  side,  holding  to  the 
mainmast  with  my  left  hand  and  beating  the  time  with 
my  right  arm,  so  those  on  shore  might  know  we  distinctly 
caught  every  vibration  of  the  melodious  cornet.  When 
they  had  finished,  another  boat  hove  off,  and  endeavored 
to  follow  us.  It  was  one  of  the  best  boats  in  the  harbor, 
and  the  occupants  made  up  their  minds  they  could  cross 
the  mighty  billows  and  stem  any  storm  that  might  occur. 
We  were  now  under  good  headway,  our  boat  plowing  the 
rolling  waves.  Then,  softly  were  the  notes  wafted  toward 
us  of  that  most  pathetic  of  songs,  "  God  be  with  you  till 
we  meet  again."  We  were  too  far  away  for  me  to  beat 
time,  but  I  waved  my  hat  in  harmony  with  the  touching 
melody.  When  the  tune  ended,  I  sank  on  the  cargo,  a 
tear  rolling  down  my  cheek  for  the  first  time  since  my 
absence  from  the  loved  ones  at  home. 

The  boat  which  followed  us  carried  four  persons  —  a 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hoffman,  A.  J.  Hoffmeier,  and  a  man  from 
British  Columbia.  They  were  particularly  anxious  to  ac- 
company us  on  the  most  hazardous  portion  of  the  lake, 
as  Mr.  Rea  had  previously  crossed,  and  was  familiar  with 


CAUGHT  IN  A  STORM  ON  GREAT  SLAVE  LAKE  439 

all  harbors  and  places  of  safety.  We  gained  steadily  on 
them,  yet  they  kept  in  plain  view,  and  we  headed  for  a 
small  island  five  miles  away.  When  we  reached  it  the 
wind  was  still  blowing  favorably,  and  we  glided  to  the 
left,  heading  for  another  island  seven  miles  beyond.  We 
had  scarcely  made  a  quarter  of  the  way,  when  the  wind 
suddenly  veered  to  the  north  and  a  brisk  gale  sprang  up 
from  off  the  sea.  It  increased  in  velocity  and  severity 
every  minute ;  the  great  billows  became  mountains ;  their 
white-caps,  breaking,  sent  their  spray  in  showers  over  us. 
The  large  scow  kept  right  on,  when  it  should  have  turned 
back  at  the  small  island.  We  had  passed  so  far  beyond 
the  island  that  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  us  to 
return.  We  must  reach  the  one  ahead  or  drift  to  the 
southern  shore  of  the  lake,  to  be  cast  upon  its  rock-bound 
coast  or  go  to  the  bottom  in  the  open  sea.  Mr.  Rea  was 
no  longer  able  to  guide  our  boat  by  pulling  the  ropes 
which  held  the  rudder  in  its  place,  and  was  obliged  to 
grasp  the  cross-piece  on  the  top  in  order  to  guide  the  bark 
over  the  heavy  swells.  When  two-thirds  of  the  way  across, 
a  huge  wrave  struck  us,  and  Mr.  Rea  shouted,  "  Jones,  the 
rudder's  broken  !  "  This  was  a  startling  declaration.  It 
meant  drift  ashore,  there  perhaps  to  be  dashed  to  pieces, 
or  sink, —  with  ten  chances  to  one  in  favor  of  the  latter. 
At  this  awful  moment  there  came  vividly  to  my  mind  the 
sweet  strains  we  had  just  heard,  "God  be  with  you  till 
we  meet  again;"  but  it  was  no  time  for  sentiment !  I 
grasped  an  oar,  hoping  to  be  able  to  keep  our  helpless 
craft  out  of  the  trough  of  the  terrible  sea,  or  at  least  float- 
ting.  Mr.  Rea  threw  himself  far  over  the  stern,  and  with 
his  right  arm  thrust  down  into  the  water  discovered  the 
rudder  had  been  split  off,  but  a  strip  of  wood  nailed  along 
its  bottom  was  still  holding  it  together.  He  grasped  the 
upper  portion  of  it  with  his  strong  blacksmith's  arm  act- 
ing as  a  vise,  and  held  it  firm  while  with  his  left  hand  he 
guided  the  boat  in  the  direction  of  the  island.  Every 
minute  while  we  were  in  this  critical  condition,  seemed 


440 


FORTY  YEARS    OF  ADVENTURES 


an  hour!  The  sun  was  already  sinking  below  the  hori- 
zon;  the  wind  was  increasing  at  a  fearful  rate,  and  I 
hardly  dared  look  up,  as  the  boat  was  shipping  water  at 
an  alarming  rate.  I  occasionally,  however,  glanced 
quickly  at  the  sail  behind,  for  I  felt  alarmed  concerning 
its  safety,  as  well  as  for  our  own.  I  continued  to  encour- 
age Mr.  Rea,  who  would  shake  his  head  in  order  to  clear 
off  the  water  so  as  to  catch  his  breath  before  another 
wave  rolled  over  him.  I  told  him  to  hold  on,  as  it  was 
only  a  short  distance  to  land.  "Two  miles!  one  mile 
more !  half  a  mile !  we're  almost  there !  a  few  more 
rods!"    Thank  God,  we  were  safe  at  last. 

Anxious  for  the  lives  of  the  inmates  of  the  boat  behind, 
I  looked  earnestly  for  its  broad  sail,  but  could  discover 
only  a  small  portion  of  it,  about  two  miles  in  the  rear. 
I  looked  again  and  it  was  gone !  Then  I  exclaimed  to 
Mr.  Rea,  "My  God!  what  has  happened?  Have  they 
given  up  the  island,  and  are  they  out  on  the  lake  at  the 
mercy  of  this  angry  gale?  " 

The  island  where  we  had  landed  was  long  and  narrow, 
in  consequence  of  which  the  wind  swept  down  each  side 
the  whole  length,  and  made  the  harbor  a  poor  one.  Our 
landing  was  exceedingly  hazardous.  The  boat  repeat- 
edly dashed  against  the  rocks,  but  we  soon  tossed  out 
the  freight  and  dragged  our  bark  ashore.  In  my  anxiety 
I  took  my  field-glass  and  swept  the  lake  for  some  sign  of 
the  boat  in  which  were  our  friends,  but  could  see  nothing 
but  an  angry  sea.  If  it  had  been  within  the  limits  of 
possibility  to  assist  them,  we  would  have  done  so,  even  at 
the  risk  of  our  lives,  but  unhappily  all  we  could  do  was 
to  watch  for  some  indication  of  the  ill-fated  boat.  The 
wild  waves  and  clouds  of  spray  were  all  that  appeared  to 
our  vision.1 

1  After  returning  to  civilization  I  received  a  letter  from  parties  at  Fort  Resolution 
informing  me  that  the  boat  was  capsized  and  Mr.  Hoffman  lost,  while  the  other  two 
men  and  Mrs.  Hoffman  managed  to  cling  to  it  until  they  drifted  twenty  miles  on  the 
southern  shore  of  the  lake,  where  it  hung  up  for  three  days  and  nights  on  the  rocks, 
during  which  time  they  were  entirely  without  food  or  shelter.    And  just  before  going 


PROTESTANT  MISSION  ON  GREAT  SLAVE  LAKE. 


CATHOLIC  PRIEST  OF  THE  FAR  NORTH. 


CROSSING  THE  LAKE 


441 


Oh,  how  deeply  we  regretted  that  our  own  boat  was  dis- 
abled, as,  if  its  rudder  had  not  been  broken,  we  would 
have  started  at  once  and  attempted  the  rescue  of  the  un- 
fortunate people. 

The  13th  of  July  was  a  blustery  day.  The  morning  was 
devoted  to  mending  the  rudder  of  our  boat  and  drying 
the  cargo  of  the  skiff,  which  had  received  such  a  drench- 
ing the  previous  day.  At  noon  we  set  sail  for  another 
island,  five  miles  distant.  We  continued  on  until  a  fine 
harbor  was  reached,  at  a  point  where  we  first  touched  the 
mainland.  Resting  there  that  night,  we  started  early  the 
next  morning,  using  our  oars  until  about  noon,  when  a 
favorable  wind  sprang  up,  which  sent  us  rapidly  across 
large  bays  and  along  the  shore.  About  sundown  the  wind 
changed  again  to  the  north,  pressing  us  hard  toward  the 
land.  We  made  fifty  miles  that  day,  and  were  contented 
with  our  progress.  We  did  not  dare  go  ashore,  for  the 
coast  was  very  dangerous,  and  there  were  only  three  har- 
bors between  the  islands  and  Hay  river.  Woe  to  the  craft, 
that  might  collide  with  any  of  the  treacherous  rocks  that 
form  the  coast,  so  desolate  in  its  aspect. 

We  were  compelled  to  beat  against  the  wind  until 
within  five  miles  of  Hay  river,  then  turned  into  Sand 
creek,  one  of  the  harbors  previously  mentioned;  an  ex- 
cellent anchorage  in  a  drifting  storm,  but  the  channel  is 
very  difficult  to  follow,  on  account  of  the  numerous  sand- 
bars. 

The  next  morning  we  rowed  into  Hay  river,  where  is 
located  the  Protestant  mission,  conducted  by  Rev.  Mr. 
Marsh,  who  was  one  of  the  best  men  I  met  during  my 
long  sojourn  in  the  North.  He  is  a  hard  worker,  and 
his  wife  and  sister  assist  him,  as  does  also  a  Miss  Tims. 
There  is  quite  a  flourishing  school  here,  composed  of  the 

to  press  I  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Hoffmeier,  dated  at  Sandon,  B.  C,  corroborating 
the  foregoing  facts.  His  first  words  in  the  letter  were,  "Dank  Gott,  I  am  live  jet." 
Mr.  Hoffmeier  is  an  intelligent  German,  who  has  not  yet  mastered  the  English  lan- 
guage, but  his  declaration  vividly  expresses  all  our  feelings  after  that  awful  night. 


442  FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 

Indian  children  of  the  neighborhood.  They  were  fairly 
well  dressed;  were  clean  and  neat  in  their  appearance, 
which  is  a  rarity  among  the  Indians  of  this  country.  But 
their  final  destiny,  I  fear,  will  be  deplorable.  We  were 
invited  to  partake  of  a  second  repast,  and  sat  down  to  an 
excellent  meal,  which  we  indeed  appreciated. 

We  informed  Mr.  Marsh  of  the  mysterious  disappear- 
ance of  the  boat  and  its  crew,  that  had  attempted  to  fol- 
low us,  upon  which  he  promised  to  go  to  Fort  Resolution 
and  make  inquiry  in  relation  to  them. 

In  about  an  hour  after  our  arrival,  a  favorable  breeze 
sprang  up,  and  we  were  again  off  for  the  Mackenzie  river, 
forty  miles  distant,  reaching  its  mouth  at  sunset,  and 
there  anchored  for  the  night. 

The  following  day  was  calm  and  relatively  warm.  By 
hard  rowing,  and  a  slight  current  of  water  assisting,  we 
managed  to  pass  through  forty  miles  of  what  might  be 
termed  a  very  wide  stream,  or  a  narrow  lake,  which 
forms  the  mouth  of  the  river.  At  six  o'clock  we  entered 
the  river  proper ;  found  the  current  very  swift,  averaging 
six  miles  an  hour. 

Soon  we  came  in  sight  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company's 
post,  Fort  Providence,  where  we  remained  that  night. 
Here  the  Catholics  have  established  a  large  mission,  pre- 
sided over  by  Father  LaCore.  There  are  four  or  five 
nuns  connected  with  this  establishment,  and  as  many 
"  Brothers."  These  monks  are.  celibates,  of  course,  liv- 
ing for  the  good  of  the  church  alone;  they  are,  when  un- 
der the  control  of  harsh  authority,  mere  slaves,  but  if  the 
reverse  is  the  case,  live  a  comparatively  happy  life.  The 
nuns  and  brothers  at  the  mission  labor  six  days  in  the 
week  without  ceasing,  excepting  the  time  they  pass  in 
sleeping,  which  is  precious  little.  They  live  on  fish  al- 
most exclusively,  but  sometimes  are  allowed  potatoes, 
when  they  can  be  raised  there.  The  priests  at  these 
Catholic  missions  fare  much  better:  they  have  bread  and 
butter,  and  in  fact  many  of  the  luxuries  to  be  found  in 


PRIEST  WITH  AN  EYE  TO  BUSINESS  443 

the  Edmonton  markets, —  even  canned  fruit.  It  is  ru- 
mored that  Father  LaCore  is  not  an  exception  to  this 
rule,  living  sumptuously  every  day.  He  sits  at  the  head 
of  his  table  with  rich  food  about  him,  the  brothers  and 
sisters  eating  at  the  same  board ;  but  their  fare  is  limited 
to  fish.  All  the  food  is  blessed,  preparatory  to  eating,  by 
the  good  (?)  father,  and  is  very  healthful,  I  have  no 
doubt. 

Fifteen  or  twenty  men  en  route  for  Alaska  were  ice- 
bound near  Fort  Providence,  and  were  compelled  to  pass 
the  winter  of  1897-8  there.  Toward  spring  the  scurvy 
made  its  appearance  among  them,  and  those  who  were 
very  sick  when  the  ice  broke  up  could  not  continue  their 
journey,  while  those  who  were  not  in  so  sad  a  plight  were 
compelled  to  go  on,  or  remain  and  perish  from  the  same 
scourge.  Father  LaCore  was  applied  to  to  take  care  of 
the  sick  until  they  recovered,  or  at  least  were  able  to 
travel.  They  were  without  money,  but  had  plenty  of 
provisions,  which  they  offered  in  payment  for  the  care  of 
their  comrades.  The  good  father  replied,  "No!  I  will 
not  take  them  unless  you  pay  me,  in  advance,  thirty  dol- 
lars in  cash  for  each  man."  They  offered  him  beans, 
flour,  bacon,  and  other  staple  goods.  But  no  —  he  must 
have  the  cash ! 

Such  Christianity  is  a  mockery,  and  I  felt  like  taking  a 
vow  that  no  more  of  my  dimes  should  find  their  way  into 
the  mission-box.  Upon  inquiry,  however,  I  learned  that 
this  was  an  exceptional  case,  and  that  at  Forts  Simpson, 
Norman,  Good  Hope,  McPherson,  and  Yukon,  a  different 
state  of  affairs  existed,  and  many  acts  of  kindness  were 
shown  to  weary  travelers  during  their  sickness  while  at 
those  posts  during  the  same  winter  and  the  following 
spring.  I  met  several  of  the  fathers  and  missionaries  of 
both  the  English  and  Catholic  churches,  who  were  ever 
willing  to  administer  to  the  needs  of  those  who  required 
assistance.  At  Fort  Norman,  particularly,  Father  Guoy 
frequently  incommoded  himself   in  order  to  help  the 


444 


FORTY  YEARS  OF  ADVENTURES 


needy  and  those  who  were  suffering,  and  everybody  that 
knows  him  speaks  in  his  praise. 

I  think  that  the  head  of  the  Catholic  Church  should  in- 
vestigate two  or  three  of  their  remote  missions,  and  re- 
place them  upon  the  foundation  originally  intended. 

The  next  morning  we  left  for  Fort  Simpson,  arriving 
there  in  three  days,  where  we  found  a  vast  number  of 
gold-seekers  with  all  kinds  of  boats,  waiting  for  the  Liard 
(  Lear)  river  to  go  down,  so  they  could  ascend  to  its 
source,  high  up  in  the  mountains,  by  water,  and  cross  the 
divide  to  Alaska.  I  learned  afterwards  from  the  Indians 
that  they  were  simply  wasting  their  time,  as  the  Devil's 
Canon,  through  which  the  river  runs,  is  entirely  inac- 
cessible to  a  boat  large  enough  to  carry  sufficient  provi- 
sions to  last  them  to  their  destination.  Their  lot  will 
certainly  be  a  deplorable  one. 

The  wind  blowing  strongly  in  our  favor,  we  tarried  less 
than  half  an  hour,  then  shot  down  the  boisterous  water 
with  frightful  rapidity. 

At  midnight  it  became  foggy  and  dark ;  our  boat  col- 
lided with  a  huge  log,  which  almost  wrecked  us,  and  we 
were  compelled  to  go  ashore  and  repair  damages. 

After  passing  Fort  Rigley,  where  we  made  a  very  short 
stop,  we  soon  reached  Fort  Norman.  At  this  point  the 
Bear  river  intersects  the  Mackenzie,  and  drains  the  Great 
Bear  lake.  The  wind  was  blowing  strongly  from  the 
southwest,  which  impeded  our  progress  materially.  All 
along  the  bluffs  above  the  post,  great  ledges  of  coal  crop 
out.  Many  of  them  had  been  set  on  fire,  and  no  doubt 
have  been  burning  for  years. 

Here  we  seized  an  opportunity  to  exchange  our  boat  for 
a  Peterborough  canoe,  which  had  been  brought  from  that 
town  in  Canada  by  miners,  and  they  disposed  of  it,  lit- 
tle knowing  its  real  value.  It  was  only  twenty  feet  long 
and  four  feet  in  width,  made  of  bass  (the  lightest  wood 
known),  and  weighed  but  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  pounds 


VISIT  TO  THE  RUINS  OF  FORT  FRANKLIN  445 

when  dry.  It  was  a  perfect  Godsend  to  us,  as  it  was  ex- 
actly what  we  needed  to  ascend  the  rapids  and  cascades 
of  Rat  river,  and  to  carry  over  the  portage  to  the  waters 
of  the  Pacific  slope. 

As  the  wind  continued  to  blow  fiercely  from  the  south- 
west, we  determined  to  set  our  sail  to  the  northeast,  up 
Bear  river,  and  visit  the  ruins  of  Fort  Franklin  on  the 
northwest  shore  of  Great  Bear  lake.  By  rapidly  sailing  in 
our  new  canoe  up  the  river,  occasionally  "tracking,"1  we 
made  excellent  time,  reaching  the  lake  the  next  evening. 
The  wind  subsided  about  midnight,  when,  after  rounding 
a  prominent  point,  we  soon  anchored  under  the  shelter  of 
the  bluffs  on  which  stood  the  old  fort. 

After  anchoring  our  boat  to  a  large  rock,  we  ascended 
to  the  place  so  fraught  with  the  impressions  of  a  sad  and 
historical  past,  that  I  could  hardly  realize  where  I  stood. 
After  a  cup  of  tea  we  spread  our  blankets,  but  could  not 
sleep,  for  the  dashing  of  the  mournful  waves,  the  harsh 
chattering  of  the  waterfowls,  coupled  with  the  memory  of 
the  horrible  fate  of  the  gallant  Franklin  and  his  brave 
followers,  the  story  of  which  I  had  read  in  my  childhood 
days,  all  combined  to  make  this  a  solemn  hour.  As  my 
thoughts  recurred  to  that  dreadful  past,  over  half  a  cen- 
tury ago,  the  place  seemed  to  be  rehabilitated  with  the  act- 
ors who  once  made  it  famous.  The  wild  scream  of  loons 
could  be  heard  in  all  directions ;  the  coarse  croak  of  the 
ravens,  as  they  perched  on  the  dead  scraggy  trees,  scat- 
tered on  that  rock-bound  coast,  appeared  to  signify  they 
had  battened  on  the  bones  of  the  dead  heroes  and  were 
waiting  for  more. 

Everything  appeared  to  intensify  the  halo  of  solemnity 
that  surrounded  that  almost  sacred  spot,  and  I  imagined 

1 "  Tracking."  It  is  very  common  for  fur  companies  in  the  far  North  to  transport 
goods  a  thousand  miles  up  the  rivers  in  boats  propelled  by  Indians,  who  walk  on  the 
shore,  holding  to  one  end  of  a  long  line,  the  other  being  attached  to  the  boat,  which  is 
guided  by  a  steersman,  who  stands  in  the  bow  with  a  long  sweep.  This  method  of 
navigation  is  called  "tracking." 


446 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


the  lamentations  of  Lady  Franklin  could  still  be  heard, 
saying : 

"  Canst  thou  not  tell  me,  Polar  Star, 

Where  in  the  frosty  waste  he  kneels 
And  on  the  icy  plains  afar 

His  love  to  God  and  me  reveals? 
Wilt  thou  not  send  one  brighter  ray 

To  my  lone  heart  and  aching  eye  ? 
Wilt  thou  not  turn  my  night  to  day, 

And  wake  my  spirit  ere  I  die? 

"Tell  me,  0  frozen  North,  for  now 

My  heart  is  like  thine  arctic  zone ; 
Beneath  the  darkened  skies  I  bow, 

Or  ride  the  stormy  seas  alone. 
Tell  me  of  my  beloved,  for  I  know  not 

One  ray  my  lord  without ; 
Oh,  tell  me,  that  I  may  not  die 

A  sorrower  on  the  sea  of  doubt. " 

How  it  could  be  possible  for  Sir  John  Franklin  and  one 
hundred  and  thirty-seven  heroes  to  perish  in  that  north- 
ern region,  is  to  me  a  mystery.  I  feel  confident  that  if 
stranded  on  the  Arctic  shores,  with  a  good  Winchester 
rifle,  plenty  of  ammunition  and  a  pair  of  blankets,  I 
would  never  tarry  until  reaching  the  most  delightful 
clime  in  the  world,  which  lies,  in  my  best  judgment,  be- 
tween the  thirty-sixth  and  fortieth  degrees  of  latitude. 

There  stood  the  identical  cabin,  erected  so  many  dec- 
ades ago,  by  the  heroic  explorer  and  his  gallant  crew, 
now  in  ruins,  a  monument  of  the  daring  spirits  who  had 
ventured  so  far  to  advance  the  interests  of  science.  The 
logs  of  which  the  cabin  was  constructed  were  badly  de- 
cayed, only  its  ghost  remaining,  figuratively.  The  door 
was  gone,  and  the  earth  washed  from  the  few  remaining 
poles  that  formed  the  roof.  A  table  still  stood  in  one  end 
of  the  room,  but  it  was  slowly  decaying  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  continually  warring  elements.  The  stone 
chimney  was  as  solid  as  when  first  built.  There  were 
evidently  two  apartments  in  the  building,  one  larger  than 


DOWN  THE  MACKENZIE  RIVER 


447 


the  other,  with  a  connecting  door.  The  smaller,  doubt- 
less, was  used  for  storing  goods,  perhaps  occupied  for 
sleeping  also. 

Apparently  there  had  originally  been  several  buildings 
of  less  size  than  the  one  under  discussion,  constructed  by 
Franklin's  party  or  others,  but  they  appeared  to  have 
been  destroyed  by  fire, —  probably  the  act  of  Indians. 

Timber  is  very  scarce  on  this  bleak,  rocky  coast,  and 
for  what  reason  Sir  John  Franklin'  selected  such  a  spot 
in  which  to  pass  the  winter,  I  cannot  imagine.  By  simply 
going  down  Bear  river  a  day's  journey,  he  would  have 
found  a  country  well  wooded  and  much  better  sheltered 
from  the  terrible  storms  which  prevail  during  that  por- 
tion of  the  year.  Perhaps  his  choice  was  made  from  the 
fact  that  immense  herds  of  reindeer  and  musk-oxen,  upon 
which  he  depended  for  food,  made  the  contiguous  region 
a  favorite  grazing-ground. 

As  tired  and  fatigued  as  we  were,  no  sleep  came  to  our 
eyes,  and  after  resting  a  few  hours  at  this  enchanting  spot, 
hallowed  by  so  many  cherished  memories,  we  regretfully 
( yet  apparently  something  irresistible  impelled  us  on  ) 
tacked  back  to  the  mouth  of  the  river,  and  were  soon 
upon  its  broad  bosom  again.  The  tempestuous  gale  of 
the  previous  day  having  completely  exhausted  itself,  we 
were  hurriedly  floated  down  to  Fort  Norman  by  the  swift 
current.  We  stopped  only  long  enough  to  procure  a  few 
fresh  herring,  the  first  place  at  which  they  could  be  ob- 
tained while  going  down  the  Mackenzie;  and  as  we  had 
never  tasted  them  before,  thought  them  delicious.  The 
Mackenzie  river  is  the  widest  stream  I  ever  saw.  Below  its 
intersection  with  the  Liard  it  averages  fully  two  miles, 
while  near  its  mouth  no  one  knows  how  wide  it  is,  as  it 
has  never  been  measured.  It  flows  at  the  rate  of  two 
miles  an  hour,  excepting  when  at  a  high  stage,  when  it  is 
increased  to  three  miles  an  hour. 


448 


FORTY  YEARS    OF  ADVENTURES 


Before  reaching  the  "  ramparts,"  1  so  called,  into  which 
we  were  hurled  with  a  force  that  was  terrific  in  its  im- 
petuosity, the  roar  of  the  water  over  the  loose  bowl- 
ders could  be  heard  for  ten  miles,  before  our  arrival. 
Here  the  river  is  reduced  to  a  half-mile  in  width,  and  its 
narrowness  compared  to  its  breadth  above  is  conspicuous. 
Perpendicular  walls  of  solid  granite  on  each  side,  rising 
from  three  to  five  hundred  feet  high,  constitute  the  gorge, 
of  which  I  took  a  snap-shot  with  my  kodak  as  our  boat 
dashed  through.    The  scenery  i3  sublime. 


RAMPARTS  OF  THE  MACKENZIE  RIVER 


As  we  emerged  from  the  ramparts,  which  are  ten  miles 
long,  we  caught  our  first  glimpse  of  Fort  Good  Hope, 


1  These  ramparts  are  formed  by  a  narrow  gorge  in  the  rocks,  through  which  the 
whole  volume  of  the  river  is  forced,  as  at  the  Dalles  of  the  Columbia  and  those  of  St. 
Croix. 


FORT  GOOD  HOPE 


449 


which  is  at  the  edge  of  the  Arctic  Circle.  We  soon  arrived 
at  this  prominent  geographical  locality,  where  I  was  sur- 
prised to  find  a  garden  planted  with  potatoes  and  other 
vegetables,  remarkably  prolific,  and.  of  excellent  quality. 
Beautiful  flowers  covered  the  country.  It  was  like  a  Gar- 
den of  Eden,  as  compared  to  the  Barren  Lands. 


CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AT  FORT  GOOD  HOPE 


Fort  Good  Hope  is  one  of  the  oldest  posts  in  the  far 
North.  It  has  been  rebuilt  several  times,  in  different  lo- 
calities. There  is  a  large  Catholic  church  here,  with  a 
large  cross  in  front,  belonging  to  the  mission,  and  it  is 
the  finest  building  of  its  character  in  the  remote  North. 
I  took  a  picture  of  this  building.  There  are  no  white 
people  at  this  post,  excepting  one  or  two  priests. 

Leaving  Fort  Good  Hope  in  a  few  hours,  we  sailed  and 
—  29 


450 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


floated  down  the  river  four  days  more,  which  brought  us 
to  the  Arctic  ocean,  along  the  shores  of  which  and  through 
the  deltas  of  the  Mackenzie  we  coasted  a  day  or  two.  We 
met  many  Eskimos,  dressed  entirely  in  furs.  Some 
seemed  very  old.  They  could  not  understand  us,  or  we 
them. 

Their  boats  were  of  framework,  made  of  sticks  lashed 
together  and  covered  with  whale-skins.  Their  canoes 
were  entirely  covered,  excepting  a  hole  into  which  the  oc- 
cupant could  crowd  and  wrap  a  lappel  or  apron  around 
his  waist,  thus  shutting  out  all  water,  even  if  it  rolled 
over  the  entire  canoe.  Thus  they  venture  on  the  mighty 
billows  of  the  Arctic  ocean,  which  to  ordinary  boatmen 
would  seem  impossible.  The  men  and  boys  over  twelve 
years  of  age  all  wear  ivory  buttons  in  their  under  lips  for 
ornaments.  They  resemble  the  Malayan  race;  are  very 
ingenious,  and  are  not  at  all  hostile. 

We  sailed  forty  miles  from  the  ocean  back  up  the 
Mackenzie  to  the  mouth  of  Peel's  river,  which  we  ascended 
until  we  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  Rat  river.  Peel's  river 
has  an  average  width  of  about  a  thousand  feet,  while  that 
of  Rat  river  is  but  fifty. 

We  ascended  Rat  river  twenty-five  miles,  to  the  point 
where  we  reached  its  first  cascade.  There  all  boats  are 
knocked  to  pieces,  out  of  which  smaller  ones  are  con- 
structed, as  boats  of  large  size  cannot  be  towed  up  the 
rapids.  The  loss  of  boats  and  other  property  at  that 
place  has  been  so  great,  it  has  very  properly  been  named 
"  Destruction  City."  Here  the  sun  shines  in  summer  for 
a  period  of  forty  days  of  twenty-four  hours'  duration 
each, —  continual  sunlight;  therefore  the  night  of  intense 
darkness  must  be  of  corresponding  length. 

The  majority  of  the  travelers  congregated  there  must 
spend  the  winter,  and  will  be  without  fresh  meat  or  fish 
and  without  vegetables.  It  is  a  safe  prediction  that  the 
dreaded  scurvy  will  break  out  among  them.  But,  if  they 
take  proper  precautions,  gather  plenty  of  the  wild  fruit  I 


A  VENERABLE  ESKIMO. 


CANOE  COVERED  WITH  WHALESKIN. 


MRS.  CRAIG  AT  DESTRUCTION  CITY 


451 


have  mentioned,  and  descend  to  Peel's  river,  where  they 
may  procure  fish,  possibly  they  may  get  through  safely. 
Some  of  them  have  already,  in  their  despair,  committed 
suicide,  two  of  them  on  the  Mackenzie  river  and  three  on 
the  Yukon,  within  sixty  days.  For  those  who  survive  the 
terrible  ordeal,  I  have  prophesied  that  if  they  do  not  as- 
cend the  mountains  to  too  great  a  height,  they  will  keep 
warm,  for  there  is  an  abundance  of  timber  along  that 
stream. 

Most  writers  make  the  assertion  that  the  Arctic  Circle 
is  near  the  limit  of  vegetation.  They  speak  of  the  scrubby 
and  barren  character  of  the  lower  Mackenzie  river  region, 
while  in  fact,  north  of  the  Arctic  Circle  there  is  as  fine  a 
growth  of  spruce  and  birch  timber  as  I  have  ever  seen. 
Some  of  the  young  trees  are  so  tall  and  symmetrical  that 
they  would  be  regarded  as  perfect  for  liberty-poles.  Wild 
currants  and  a  variety  of  small  cranberries  are  to  be 
found  in  greatest  luxuriance,  while  grass  and  moss  cover 
every  spot. 

At  "  Destruction  City  "  we  overtook  many  persons  from 
all  parts  of  the  world ;  numbers  of  them  had  been  travel- 
ing on  their  weary  journey  for  over  a  year.  In  the  whole 
assemblage  there  was  but  one  woman.  She  had  nobly 
braved  the  perils  of  the  trip  thus  far;  a  Mrs.  A.  C.  Craig, 
from  Chicago.  Her  husband  had  been  a  contractor  in 
that  city,  and  with  his  wife  had  been  on  the  road  for 
more  than  twelve  months.  Here  they  abandoned  their 
trip.  To  return  ?  No;  there  is  no  retreating.  It  would 
require  three  years  to  tow  their  boats  up  the  rivers  and 
cross  the  lakes  in  returning  to  Edmonton,  the  first  place 
of  civilization.  All  left  for  them  to  do  was  to  return  to 
Fort  McPherson,  eighty  miles  up  Peel's  river,  there  build 
sleds,  and  portage  their  goods  over  the  divide  to  Belle 
river,  during  the  ensuing  winter  and  spring,  so  as  to  be 
ready  to  descend  to  the  Yukon  the  following  summer,  to  the 
gold-fields,  their  objective  point, —  consuming  two  whole 
years.    I  have  met  many  of  the  friends  of  the  people  to 


452  FORTY  YEARS  OF  ADVENTURES 

whom  I  have  referred,  since  my  return.  They  invariably 
ask ,  1 '  Why  don '  t  they  return  ?  Why  do  they  stay  there  ? ' ' 
Their  predicament  recalls  very  forcibly  the  parable  in  the 
Bible,  of  the  rich  man  Dives,  who  died  and  went  to 
Hades.  He  could  not  reach  the  haven  he  desired,  neither 
was  he  permitted  to  return  and  warn  his  kindred  not  to 
come  to  that  place  of  torment. 

While  at  Fort  Resolution  I  received  a  letter  from  my 
sister,  Mrs.  Ed.  Clayton,  in  Chicago,  begging  me,  if  I 
should  meet  the  Craigs  above  referred  to,  to  do  all  in  my 
power  to  help  them  along,  as  they  were  friends  of  hers. 
Upon  the  acquaintance  thus  formed  with  Mr.  Craig,  and 
with  liberal  inducements,  I  succeeded  in  persuading  him 
and  Mr.  E.  K.  Turner,  of  Salt  Lake  City,  to  assist  us  in 
drawing  our  little  boat  up  Rat  river  and  over  the  portage. 
Mrs.  Craig  remained  at  the  tent,  keeping  a  vigil  over  the 
precious  larder,  which  she  and  her  husband  cherished  as 
they  did  their  lives. 

Poor  woman  !  her  experience  had  been  a  remarkable  one. 
She  had  been  subjected  to  innumerable  hardships,  under 
summer  suns  and  through  winter  snows ;  had  descended 
rivers,  and  passed  over  their  rapids;  crossed  Great  Slave 
lake  on  the  ice ;  steered  their  boat  while  her  husband  plied 
the  oars,  sometimes  working  them  herself  when  he  was 
prostrated  by  his  almost  superhuman  exertions.  She  had 
driven  dog-sleds,  and  gathered  wood  in  the  thick  under- 
brush to  keep  up  fires  while  her  husband  was  absent  on 
long  journeys,  portaging  their  goods.  She  often  pushed 
her  way  along  the  river's  edge,  towing  the  boat  with  a  long 
cord.  Her  wearing  apparel  of  necessity  became  tattered 
and  torn,  so  much  so  that  she  was  compelled  to  resort  to 
men's  clothing.  Yet  she  was  always  brave,  never  utter- 
ing a  murmur.  If  she  successfully  reaches  the  Pacific 
coast,  she  will  be  the  first  white  woman  who  ever  essayed 
the  journey  by  this  route,  and  will  be  entitled  to  be  classed 
as  a  heroine. 

I  also  met  at  this  place  the  ubiquituous  newspaper  cor- 


ESKIMOS  ON  THE  ARCTIC  OCEAN  —  SOCI ETY  BELLES. 


OFF  FOR  THE  YUKON  RIVER 


453 


respondent,  in  the  person  of  Mr.  Thumser,  of  Chicago, 
who  had  been  sent  by  the  Associated  Press  as  their  agent  to 
report  upon  the  feasibility  of  the  Edmonton  route  to  Daw- 
son City.  He  had  not,  however,  been  able  to  send  back  a 
word  since  leaving  Edmonton  in  May.  He  had  expected 
to  forward  his  report  by  whaling-vessels,  which  he  hoped 
to  find  in  the  Arctic  ocean,  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  his 
messenger  ever  succeeded  in  reaching  a  ship.  He  would 
gladly  have  availed  himself  of  the  opportunity  to  send 
by  Mr.  Rea  and  myself,  if  he  had  had  the  slightest  confi- 
dence in  our  reaching  civilization  before  the  next  year. 

We  remained  at  this  romantic  city  of  tents  but  one 
night,  leaving  next  morning,  August  10th,  but  before  start- 
ing discarded  every  conceivable  article  we  could  spare,  so 
as  to  lighten  our  burden  as  much  as  possible.  I  even 
gave  away  my  gun,  field-glass,  revolver,  and  many  other 
articles  which  I  had  carried  for  years  during  my  travels 
on  the  frontier.  When  all  was  ready,  with  the  little 
amount  of  provisions  left  to  last  us  until  we  could  reach 
the  Yukon  river,  loaded  into  the  boat,  we  waded  into 
the  water,  one  man  on  each  side  of  the  canoe  to  keep  it 
from  dashing  on  the  rocks,  and  two  in  front  with  the  tow- 
line  to  keep  it  in  the  middle  of  the  stream,  the  only  place 
where  there  was  sufficient  water  to  float  it,  without  injury. 
There  was  plenty  of  water  on  each  side,  of  course, —  often 
waist  deep,  in  fact;  but  the  bottom  was  so  thickly  strewn 
with  rocks,  whose  jagged  points  neared  the  surface,  that 
it  would  have  been  impossible  for  any  craft  to  live  there 
a  moment.  Some  one  may  ask  why  we  did  not  walk  on 
the  shore  and  tow  our  boat,  as  we  have  stated  that  the 
stream  is  narrow ;  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  often 
the  rocky  bed  referred  to  widens  out  for  twenty  yards  or 
more  on  either  side  of  the  narrow  channel,  and  where 
narrow  it  is  so  crooked  that  we  were  obliged  to  pull  with 
a  short  line,  and  directly  ahead. 

We  left  Destruction  City  full  of  courage,  hoping  to 
make  rapid  progress  with  such  a  light  load;  but  we  were 


454 


FORTY  YEARS    OF  ADVENTURES 


sorely  disappointed,  as  in  many  places  our  combined  ef- 
forts were  not  sufficient  to  drag  the  boat  up  the  cascades. 
We  were  often  obliged  to  carry  our  goods  on  our  backs  a 
half-mile  at  a  time,  then  return  and  tow  the  empty  boat  to 
the  top  of  the  rapids.  This  required  an  immense  amount 
of  muscle  and  all  the  ingenuity  we  could  command,  as 
the  current  runs  like  a  mill-race.  We  would  have  em- 
ployed Indians  for  this  hard  work  had  it  been  possible, 
but  the  white  men  who  had  preceded  us  had  scattered  the 
microbes  of  la  grippe  from  Edmonton  all  the  way  to  De- 
struction City,  and  the  Indians  along  the  route  were  sick ; 
many  dying  daily.  It  was  very  fortunate  that  we  secured 
the  services  of  the  two  gentlemen  mentioned,  or  we  should 
have  been  compelled  to  pass  another  winter  within  the 
Arctic  Circle. 

During  the  first  thirty  miles  we  passed  a  great  many 
parties,  who,  like  ourselves,  were  struggling  to  the  sum- 
mit, frequently  following  one  another  so  closely  that  the 
parties  were  not  more  than  one  hundred  yards  apart ;  but 
during  the  last  quarter  of  our  forty-mile  journey  through 
the  rapids,  very  few  outfits  had  succeeded  in  progressing 
thus  far,  probably  less  than  a  dozen  that  would  be  able 
to  cross  over  before  winter. 

We  consumed  seven  days  in  making  forty  miles,  and 
when  we  landed  our  boat  on  the  small  lake  which  is  the 
source  of  West  Rat  river  it  was  the  17th  of  August.  Here 
we  bade  farewell  and  Godspeed  to  Messrs.  Craig  and  Tur- 
ner, who  had  rendered  us  such  excellent  service. 

On  our  long  journey  from  Fort  Resolution  on  Great 
Slave  lake  we  had  passed  ninety-five  boats  and  their 
crews,  with  the  intense  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  none 
had  passed  us. 

We  found  a  new  route  while  crossing  the  portage  be- 
tween the  two  Rat  rivers,  by  which  we  were  enabled 
to  make  a  portage  of  only  twenty-three  hundred  and 
fifty  feet,  while  all  the  other  parties  had  been  compelled 
to  carry  their  goods  and  boats  twice  that  distance  in  ef- 


RAT  RIVER 


455 


fecting  it.  The  cut-off  was  made  by  following  a  stream 
which  entered  the  lake  at  the  head  of  East  Rat  river,  the 
stream  flowing  into  the  lake  from  the  south  and  coming 
within  that  short  distance  of  the  other  lake,  which  is  the 
source  of  West  Rat  river. 

Mr.  McDougall,  the  civil  engineer  who  mapped  this 
Rat  river  pass,  gives  its  elevation  as  eleven  hundred  and 
sixty  feet,  but  his  figures  do  not  agree  with  my  measure- 
ments. I  find  it  to  be  eight  hundred  and  forty  feet 
higher.  The  only  way  in  which  I  can  account  for  this 
great  discrepancy  is  that  the  Indians  insist  that  Mr.  Mc- 
Dougal  never  went  there  at  all,  but  traveled  overland 
from  McPherson  to  the  LaPere  house  on  Belle  river,  while 
his  guides  hauled  his  empty  boat  up  Rat  river,  thence 
over  the  portage  to  Belle  river,  where  they  joined  him. 

Many  hundred  gold-seekers  will  be  compelled  to  spend 
another  dreary  winter  on  the  Rat  river,  in  that  land  of 
darkness,  then  haul  what  few  effects  they  may  have  left 
in  the  spring  on  dog-sleds  across  to  Belle  river.  Those 
who  are  far  up  Rat  river  doubtless  will  be  able  to  portage 
their  goods  the  short  distance  they  have  to  travel,  on 
their  backs,  to  West  Rat  river,  where  they  can  descend  in 
small  boats,  which  they  must  construct  of  lumber  sawed 
by  hand.  They  too  will  learn  that  West  Rat  river  is  the 
place  of  all  places  to  realize  the  sensation  of  "  shooting 
the  chutes."  It  is  a  continuous  succession  of  cascades 
from  source  to  mouth.  As  we  rushed  down  it  in  our  frail 
boat  it  furnished  us  some  new  sensations  in  boating  in 
Arctic  waters.  Mr.  Rea  stood  in  the  bow  with  a  long 
pole,  while  I  took  a  position  in  the  stern  with  another. 
As  we  went  flying  down,  Mr.  Rea  would  thrust  in  his  pole 
and  guide  the  boat  around  the  danger-point,  which  con- 
sisted of  rocks  protruding  above  the  surface  or  very  close 
to  it.  His  action  had  a  tendency  to  force  the  other  end 
of  the  boat  against  the  very  one  he  was  trying  to  avoid. 
Then  came  my  turn  for  an  exhibition  of  skill  by  keep- 
ing it  off.    A  single  slip  or  miss  on  my  part  would  have 


456 


FORTY  YEARS    OF  ADVENTURES 


crushed  our  boat  into  kindling-wood,  and  all  would  have 
been  lost  in  the  turbulent  current.  It  was  clearly  a  game 
of  life  and  death.  It  seemed  to  me  that  river  was  longer 
than  the  Mississippi.  When  we  reached  the  last  rapids, 
just  before  entering  Belle  river,  the  sharp  points  of  a 
great  many  rocks  made  their  appearance.  Mr.  Rea  made 
a  mighty  effort  with  his  pole  to  escape  a  particularly  dan- 
gerous one,  but  in  so  doing  only  threw  the  boat  on  an- 
other just  to  our  right.  The  boat  fairly  leaped  into  the 
air ;  turned  clear  around,  going  down  the  river  stern  first, 
and  a  stream  of  water  burst  through  the  bottom  of  the 
boat,  about  four  inches  in  diameter.  By  the  time  we 
discovered  it,  and  realized  what  had  occurred,  we  were  in 
the  center  of  Belle  river.  We  both  quickly  dropped  our 
poles  and  pulled  on  the  oars  for  the  opposite  shore.  Before 
we  reached  it  the  water  was  half-way  to  the  gunwales,  and 
everything  completely  drenched,  which  compelled  us  to 
sleep  in  wet  blankets  that  night. 

Scientists  claim  that  the  Rat  river  pass  was  caused  by 
the  ice  gorging  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mackenzie  river  dur- 
ing the  glacial  period,  until  it  backed  up  the  water  so 
high  it  diverted  the  floods  to  the  Pacific  slope,  and  cut 
the  mountains  down  about  a  thousand  feet.  But  this 
theory  is  all  guess-work,  as  the  probability  is  no  scientific 
man  ever  passed  over  that  route.  In  my  opinion  the  the- 
ory is  not  correct,  for  several  reasons.  One  is  sufficient 
to  defeat  such  a  possibility,  viz. ;  If  the  water  had  been 
raised  three  thousand  feet,  by  that  time  the  snow  falling 
on  the  mountains  would  have  reached  a  tremendous 
height,  as  all  agree  that  during  the  12,000  years  of  the 
glacial  period,  snow  fell  to  a  depth  of  two  and  a  half  feet 
per  year,  which,  when  compressed,  made  over  six  inches 
of  ice,  after  a  year  or  two.  This  would  have  elevated  the 
mountain  7,000  feet  higher,  or  a  total  of  10,000  feet  above 
sea-level,  and  would  have  sent  the  waters  over  the  Bar- 
ren Lands  to  the  Arctic  Ocean,  or  backed  it  over  the  di- 
vide into  the  Mississippi  or  Hudson  Bay  slopes. 


DIFFICULTIES  OF  THE  EDMONTON  ROUTE  457 

The  trouble  is  with  some  scientific  men,  they  too  often 
jump  at  conclusions  without  proving  them. 

Next  morning  we  patched  up  the  boat  as  best  we  could, 
and  started  on  our  long  journey  to  the  great  Yukon  river. 

I  must  admit  that  with  all  its  trials  and  hardships,  the 
route  we  had  traveled  did  not  differ  from  what  I  had  ex- 
pected, as  in  the  previous  fall,  before  leaving  Fort  Reso- 
lution, I  had  met  an  Indian  and  talked  with  him  as  to 
the  feasibility  of  returning  that  way.  His  description  of 
the  difficulties  to  be  met  with  I  found  to  be  correct ;  so 
wras  not  disappointed,  as  were  thousands  of  others  who 
had  foolishly  taken  the  advice  of  people  who  knew  no 
more  about  the  topography  of  the  country  than  they  did 
of  that  of  the  moon. 

Our  success  was  clearly  attributable  to  well-trained 
muscles  and  the  hardships  incident  to  the  summer  and 
wTinter  of  the  year  before,  wrhen  we  were  sojourning  in  the 
Barren  Lands.  If  any  desire  to  make  the  trip  to  the  Yu- 
kon by  the  "Edmonton  route,"  they  should  first  deter- 
mine whether  they  have  a  constitution  of  iron,  nerves  of 
steel,  and  an  indomitable  will.  That  determined  beyond 
a  doubt,  let  them  secure  the  lightest  boat  possible,  take 
just  enough  provisions  to  last  to  the  Yukon,  and  in  a 
company  of  not  less  than  three  others,  cast  in  the  same 
mould  as  themselves.  Then,  if  expert  sailors,  and  the 
wreather  is  not  too  boisterous,  by  securing  a  practical 
guide  to  take  them  through  the  rapids  of  Athabaska  and 
Slave  rivers  and  across  the  lake  of  the  same  name,  with 
a  guide  from  the  Mackenzie  up  Peel's  and  Rat  rivers  to  the 
source  of  West  Rat  river,  they  can  feel  assured  of  making 
the  journey  in  one  summer,  provided  they  follow  the  ice 
when  it  breaks  up  early  in  the  spring,  keeping  on  their 
course  both  night  and  day. 

Some  half  a  dozen  parties  had  preceded  us  over  the  Rat 
river  route,  and  shot  down  the  rapids  through  Belle  and 
Porcupine  rivers  to  the  muddy  Yukon;  while  others,  a 
limited  number,  had  portaged  eighty-five  miles  from  Fort 


458 


FORTY  YEARS    OF  ADVENTURES 


McPherson  to  the  old  LaPere  house,  on  the  Belle  river, 
where  they  constructed  rafts  and  floated  down  Belle  and 
Porcupine  rivers. 

The  most  sensible  course  pursued  by  any  of  the  many 
hundreds  who  had  reached  Peel's  river  was  that  of  Messrs. 
E.  A.  Olds  and  J.  H.  Hun  toon,  of  Los  Angeles,  Cal. 
They  arrived  at  Fort  McPherson  early  in  June,  where 
they  met  a  number  of  Eskimos  from  Herschel's  island  in 
the  Arctic  ocean,  with  whom  they  exchanged  a  portion  of 
their  goods  for  twenty  very  strong  dogs,  on  whose  backs 
they  packed  the  remainder  of  their  supplies  and  made 
the  trip  across  to  Belle  river.  Their  dogs  carried  from 
thirty  to  forty-five  pounds  each,  and  the  acquisition  of 
these  animals  proved  a  Godsend  to  them.  At  Belle  river 
they  built  a  large  raft,  and  on  it  floated  down  to  Fort 
Yukon,  where  they  disposed  of  the  dogs  at  fabulous 
prices. 

We  overtook  this  party  on  Porcupine  river,  three  days 
before  they  arrived  at  their  destination,  Fort  Yukon.  I 
wish  I  could  present  a  photograph  of  their  peculiar  craft 
as  it  appeared  when  I  first  saw  it,  for  it  was  the  most 
comical  thing  I  saw  on  my  whole  trip.  They  abandoned 
it  at  Fort  Yukon,  and  with  the  amount  of  money  received 
from  the  sale  of  the  dogs,  were  able  to  take  first-class 
passage  to  San  Francisco,  and  had  enough  gold-dust  left 
to  establish  their  claim  of  having  discovered  wonderful 
mines,  had  they  felt  so  disposed,  as  thousands  of  others 
had  done, —  creating  a  false  excitement  in  relation  to  the 
mineral  resources  of  that  over-estimated  region. 

When  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles  up  the  Porcupine 
river  I  was  surprised  by  meeting  a  large  party  of  gold 
prospectors  who  had  come  in  via  Dawson  City.  They  in- 
tended to  winter  at  that  point,  and  in  the  spring  portage 
over  about  a  hundred  miles  north,  to  the  head  of  a  river 
which  they  believed  emptied  into  the  Kotzebue  sound. 
Among  others  was  a  Mr.  Shank,  of  Omaha,  Neb.,  whom 
I  had  met  before.     They  were  in  the  locality  of  Old 


REACH  THE   YUKON  RIVER 


459 


Crow  river,  the  place  of  all  places  for  historical  petrified 
relics,  of  the  gigantic  mastodon  and  other  large  animals. 

About  a  hundred  miles  below  where  we  met  them,  we 
were  hurled  into  the  ramparts  of  Porcupine  river.  This 
mighty  gorge,  through  which  the  water  shoots  with  tre- 
mendous force  and  rapidity,  is  about  ninety  miles  long. 
The  walls  on  either  side  are  so  variegated  in  color  in  some 
places  that  they  resemble  the  "  Pictured  Rocks  "  of  Lake 
Superior.  Midway  of  the  gorge  is  Rampart  House,  until 
very  recently  a  Protestant  mission  of  the  Fort  Yukon 
district.  This  is  where  General  Frederick  Funston  spent 
the  winter  of  1893-94.  We  stopped  there  over-night, 
.where  we  met  the  Reverend  T.  H.  Bawksley,  who  has 
been  so  diligent  in  educating  Indians.  He  and  a  half- 
dozen  jolly  good  fellows  were  up  there  for  the  purpose  of 
moving  the  furniture  and  other  goods  of  this  mission  on 
the  Porcupine  down  to  Fort  Yukon.  He  was  possessed  of 
a  fine  library,  an  organ  and  other  musical  instruments, 
and  I  really  felt  as  though  we  had  once  more  reached  a 
land  of  civilization. 

Early  the  next  morning  we  were  gliding  down  the  rap- 
ids, and  applied  our  oars  as  vigorously  as  if  we  were  in 
mere  eddies,  making  every  exertion  to  reach  Fort  St. 
Michael's  before  the  rivers  were  closed. 

We  saw  a  great  many  young  geese  and  ducks  on  our 
route,  and  killed  a  few  black  bear,  the  tender  meat  of 
which  we  appreciated  very  much. 

On  the  morning  of  the  27th  of  August  we  entered  the 
great  and  muddy  Yukon,  and  could  plainly  distinguish 
the  outlines  of  Fort  Yukon  about  two  miles  above.  The 
wind  being  in  our  favor,  we  set  sail,  and  soon  anchored  at 
the  little  Indian  village.  Many  of  the  inhabitants  stood 
on  the  banks  watching  us  as  we  glided  toward  them  up 
the  swift  current.  On  landing,  an  old  Indian  informed 
us  it  was  the  first  boat  he  ever  saw  wrhich  could  sail  up  the 
swift  stream.  Our  boat  was  so  light  and  its  sail  so  large 
it  was  irresistible. 


460 


FORTY  YEARS    OF  ADVENTURES 


In  Alaska  we  found  some  of  the  greatest  rascals  of  the 
period,  both  in  Canada  and  the  United  States, —  especially 
among  the  custom-house  and  other  officers.  They  often' 
collect  more  duty  from  small  crafts  than  their  cargoes 
originally  cost;  while  those  boat-owners  who  were  "up  to 
snuff"  merely  slipped  a  ten-dollar  bill  or  gold-piece  into 
the  official's  hands,  and  passed  without  inspection.  An 
official  receipt  is  rarely  given,  to  those  they  do  inspect, — 
simply  a  slip  of  paper,  on  which  is  written  something  like 
the  following:  "This  is  to  certify  that  I  have  examined 

Mr.  's  outfit,  and  collected  duty  on  same."  They  were 

very  careful  not  to  specify  the  amount  or  the  names  of 
the  articles  dutiable,  and  everybody  knew  the  money  re- 
ceived seldom,  if  ever,  found  its  way  into  the  treasury  of 
their  respective  governments. 

To  show  the  extent  to  which  this  malfeasance  obtains 
in  that  country,  I  was  told  by  a  gentleman  at  Minook, 
seven  hundred  miles  below  Dawson  City,  that  he  had  writ- 
ten to  the  postmaster  there  several  times  during  the  sum- 
mer to  have  his  mail  forwarded  to  him  at  Minook,  but 
received  no  reply.  He  paid  fifty  dollars  for  passage  to 
Dawson,  and  on  arriving  there  fell  into  line,  finally  reach- 
ing the  postoffice  window,  where  he  asked  for  his  mail. 
The  clerk  said  there  was  nothing  for  him.  The  gentle- 
man insisted  that  he  should  look,  for  he  knew  there  must 
be  at  least  a  basketful.  The  clerk  still  refused  to  look, 
declaring  there  was  no  mail.  The  surging  crowd  pushed 
the  anxious  inquirer  along,  and  he  was  compelled  to  re- 
linquish his  search  for  that  day.  But  the  next  day  he 
returned  to  the  postoffice.  He  had  been  told  to  "tip" 
the  clerk,  and  this  time  he  did  so  by  handing  him  a 
twenty-dollar  bill ;  and  he  again  asked  for  his  mail.  The 
clerk  turned  away,  and  soon  returned  with  forty-five  let- 
ters and  a  package  of  papers. 

This  is  only  one  instance  of  that  character  which  I  have 
space  to  recite,  although  I  have  the  knowledge  of  many 
others.    This  nefarious  method  was  practiced  not  only  at 


DRIFTING  DOWN  THE  RIVER 


461 


Dawson,  in  the  British  Possessions,  but  at  many  of  the  post- 
offices  in  the  United  States  contiguous,  where  from  five  to 
ten  cents  was  demanded  before  delivering  a  letter.  The 
fact  is,  some  of  those  officers,  so  remote  from  the  seat  of 
government,  can  make  a  small  fortune  before  it  is  possi- 
ble for  a  report  to  reach  the  Departments  at  Washing- 
ton and  Ottawa,  their  conduct  investigated  and  successors 
appointed.  Consequently,  they  are  very  extortionate  and 
defiant. 

We  remained  at  Fort  Yukon  nearly  a  week,  hoping  to 
catch  a  steamer  to  St.  Michael's;  but  before  one  arrived 
Mr.  Rea  went  up  the  river  to  Dawson  City.  On  his  re- 
turn he  corroborated  the  extravagant  methods  of  robbery 
reported.  While  at  Dawson  he  gathered  many  interesting 
facts,  some  of  which,  if  made  known,  would  be  astounding. 
I  do  not  deem  it  expedient  to  insert  his  letter,  as  so  much 
of  a  derogatory  character  has  already  been  published  about 
this  much-talked-of  place. 

Very  few  boats  touch  at  Fort  Yukon,  this  once  all-im- 
portant "no  place."  I  soon  became  tired  of  its  terrible 
monotony,  and  concluded  with  three  other  gentlemen 
who  had  joined  me,  to  take  our  canoe  and  drift  down  the 
river,  hoping  that  a  steamer  would  overtake  us.  The 
weather  was  cold  and  stormy ;  rain  and  sleet  fell  almost 
continually.  We  had  scarcely  reached  the  lower  end  of 
the  island,  beyond  which  flows  the  main  channel  of  the 
Yukon,  when  to  our  chagrin  we  saw  two  immense  steam- 
ers passing  down  the  stream.  We  were  so  far  from  them 
that  we  had  little  hope  of  their  seeing  or  hearing  us,  yet 
we  waved  our  hats,  coats  and  blankets,  and  yelled  our- 
selves hoarse  —  all  to  no  purpose,  for  they  proceeded  on 
their  way  without  noticing  us. 

The  wind  blew  furiously  from  the  northwest  as  we 
floated  on  the  rolling  waves,  until  night  was  upon  us; 
then,  cold  and  hungry,  we  sought  shelter  under  the  thick 
willows  fringing  the  north  bank. 

The  next  day  was  Sunday ;  we  neither  went  to  church 


462 


FORTY  YEARS  OF  ADVENTURES 


nor  Sunday-school,  but  had  a  little  "  Endeavor  meeting" 
of  our  own, —  endeavored  to  stem  the  terrific  wind  and 
waves,  but  made  very  little  progress.  We  continued  float- 
ing by  day  and  camping  at  night,  until  Tuesday  morning, 
just  as  we  had  finished  our  breakfast  of  slapjacks,  bacon 
and  coffee,  a  cloud  of  black  smoke  was  borne  on  the  breeze 
beyond  a  point  of  timber  we  had  passed  the  night  before. 
In  a  short  time  a  monstrous  steamer  came  in  sight,  and 
we  all  hurriedly  paddled  to  the  center  of  the  river.  As  it 
approached  us  I  jumped  on  our  ''grub-box"  and  gave  the 
railroad  signal  for  it  to  stop.  At  the  same  time  all  of  us 
waved  our  hats  and  coats,  but  the  steamer  passed  to  the 
south  of  us  and  was  swiftly  gliding  by,  when  the  pilot- 
house window  was  opened  and  a  man  leaned  out.  I 
held  up  my  arm  and  shouted,  "Four  passengers  for  St. 
Michael's!"  He  rang  the  reverse  bell,  the  steamer 
stopped,  and  soon  we  were  alongside  of  the  Alaska  Com- 
mercial Company's  largest  and  finest  boat,  "Hannah." 
The  purser  was  on  the  lower  deck,  and  came  to  where  we 
were.  I  asked  him,  "How  much  for  four  passages  to 
St.  Michael's  ?  "  He  replied,  "  One  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  dollars."  We  were  already  half-way  from  Dawson  to 
Bering  Sea,  and  knew  the  fare  at  that  time  for  first-class 
passage  from  Dawson  to  St.  Michael's  was  fifty  dollars. 
I  intimated  so,  and  offered  one  hundred  and  fifty.  He 
answered  with  a  most  emphatic  "  No  !  "  We  quickly  con- 
cluded to  pay  the  exorbitant  price,  and  climbed  aboard. 
Then  we  cut  the  towline  from  our  small  boat  and  let  it 
go  adrift,  with  all  our  cooking  utensils,  etc.  We  arranged 
our  proportion  of  the  fare  with  Mr.  Olds,  and  he  paid  the 
one  hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars  to  the  purser. 

I  asked  to  be  shown  my  stateroom,  but  the  purser  re- 
plied, "Just  pay  your  fare  and  I  will  arrange  the  rooms." 
I  replied,  "  Mr.  Olds  has  paid  for  all."  The  purser  an- 
swered, "  He  has  only  paid  for  one."  We  were  all  dumb- 
founded !  One  hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars  each  was 
demanded,  wThen  our  contract  plainly  implied  it  wTas 


EXTORTION  OF  THE   STEAMSHIP  COMPANY  463 

meant  for  all  four,  at  least  a  dozen  passengers  and  offi- 
cers corroborating  my  statement. 

What  to  do  we  did  not  know.  Our  boat  was  gone,  but 
we  did  not  propose  to  be  robbed  in  that  way.  The  purser 
handed  the  money  back  and  gave  us  orders  to  get  off  as 
soon  as  the  next  wood-yard  was  reached.  We  protested, 
patted  him  on  the  back,  and  begged  to  be  allowed  to  con- 
tinue our  journey  and  pay  a  reasonable  fare,  but  without 
effect.  Learning  that  the  company's  general  manager,  Mr. 
Wilson,  was  aboard,  we  appealed  to  him.  We  asked  him 
to  allow  us  to  remain,  even  if  we  went  as  steerage  passen- 
gers. He  shook  his  head.  I  then  proposed  that  we  work 
our  way  down,  and  let  them  retain  the  money.  The  prop- 
osition was  accepted,  and  we  all  went  below,  supposing, 
of  course,  that  there  would  be  some  kind  of  a  bed  to  sleep 
on,  but  discovered  that  only  the  wet,  dirty  deck  or  cord- 
wood  was  to  be  our  couch.  I  made  my  bed  the  first  night 
on  the  wood,  but  precious  little  sleep  did  I  get.  The 
next  day  I  found  a  board  four  feet  and  a  half  long  by 
eleven  inches  wide  which  served  me  a  great  deal  better ; 
and  I  was  really  thankful  for  the  comfort  it  afforded. 
Our  principal  work  was  loading  cordwood  from  the  banks, 
and  I  always  pitched  it  with  such  force  and  peculiar  twist 
down  the  hills,  as  to  make  each  stick  turn  four  or  five 
somersaults,  which  landed  it  nearly  in  its  proper  place 
near  the  boat.  I  soon  found  out  I  had  made  a  great  mis- 
take, as  I  was  always  ordered  afterward  by  the  mate  to 
the  farthest  pile  from  the  boat.  In  fact,  I  worked  just  as 
hard  as  if  I  had  not  paid  forty-two  dollars  and  fifty  cents 
for  the  privilege  of  being  a  deck-hand  without  wages. 

After  we  reached  the  little  hamlet  of  Andressy  I  was 
helping  to  pull  the  anchor-line  on  shore  to  make  the  boat 
fast,  when,  stepping  on  a  block  of  wood,  two  rusty  nails 
penetrated  my  moccasin  and  sank  deeply  into  my  foot. 
I  hobbled  back  to  the  boat,  too  lame  to  perform  any  more 
work,  and  tried  very  hard  to  persuade  the  officers  to  as- 
sign me  a  room  so  as  to  doctor  my  wound,  as  well  as  a 


464 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


severe  cold  I  had  contracted  because  of  the  miserable 
quarters  I  had  been  obliged  to  occupy.  Although  there 
were  eight  empty  rooms  above,  they  declined  to  grant  my 
request.  The  Alaska  Commercial  Company  is  known  by 
all  that  travel  in  Alaska  as  a  "corporation  without  a 
soul" — one  that  has  grown  to  the  magnitude  of  a  multi- 
millionaire by  being  the  pet  of  the  United  States  in  the 
seal  fisheries  and  carrying  government  supplies.  That 
company  is  now  returning  gratitude  to  the  citizens  of  our 
great  nation  for  favors  received,  by  bleeding  them.  We 
did  find  men  of  kind  hearts  in  the  kitchen  of  the  boat. 
They  treated  us  with  due  courtesy  and  kindness,  and  to 
them  we  return  everlasting  gratitude. 

There  is  also  another  corporation,  the  Alaska  Trans- 
portation Company,  which,  too,  is  without  a  soul.  These 
companies  have  laid  claim  to  about  two  miles  frontage 
of  the  best  and  almost  the  only  available  portion  of  the 
harbor  at  St.  Michael's.  The  first  thing  I  saw  after  land- 
ing on  the  pier  was  a  notice  posted  in  a  conspicuous 
place  by  the  commanding  officer  in  charge  of  the  United 
States  military  post  there  (  which  includes  all  the  harbor  ), 
warning  the  public  not  to  trespass  upon  the  premises 
claimed  by  the  corporations  to  which  I  have  referred; 
consequently,  no  one  is  allowed  to  sell  anything,  no  mat- 
ter how  small  it  may  be.  No  boarding-house  is  allowed 
within  these  sacred  precints,  excepting  those  of  the  great 
corporations,  who  have  supply  stores,  hotels,  etc.,  and 
charge  their  patrons  most  exorbitant  rates. 

I  was  told  by  a  sergeant  of  the  regular  army  stationed 
there,  that  the  Alaska  Transportation  Company  had 
agreed  to  have  barracks  ready  for  the  troops  on  their  ar- 
rival ;  but  they  found  only  the  foundations  laid. 

The  commanding  officer  said  the  soldiers  might  assist 
the  company  in  building  the  barracks,  which  would  give 
them  thirty  cents  an  hour  for  spending-money.  They 
quickly  learned  that  wages  were  fifty  cents  an  hour,  and 
that  there  were  many  poor  disappointed  civilians  there 


TWO  DAYS  AND  NIGHTS  ON  A  SANDBAR  465 

who  needed  the  work.  They  respectfully  sent  word  to 
their  commander  they  did  not  want  to  cut  wages  and  beat 
needy  workmen  out  of  their  jobs.  In  reply,  a  peremptory 
order  was  given  for  the  soldiers  to  build  the  barracks  and 
accept  whatever  the  company  saw  fit  to  pay  them ;  so 
there  was  nothing  left  for  them  but  to  obey.  After  they 
had  finished,  the  company  had  the  audacity  to  give  them 
fifteen  cents  an  hour.  This  heartless  corporation  is  now 
receiving  from  the  government  thirty-six  hundred  dollars 
a  year  as  rental  for  the  barracks,  built  by  its  own  troops. 
It  probably  cost  the  company  less  than  its  receipts  for  six 
months.  These  transportation  companies,  doubtless,  are 
to  a  great  extent  responsible  for  the  glowing  reports  about 
Alaska  and  the  whole  Northwestern  country  which  have 
been  sent  out  for  the  sole  purpose  of  filling  their  coffers 
with  the  earnings  of  the  many  thousands  they  have  al- 
lured there. 

At  St.  Michael's,  on  the  17th  of  September,  I  boarded 
the  ocean  steamer  Tillamook,  bound  for  Seattle,  Wash. 
We  sailed  about  eighty  miles  northwest  to  discharge  a 
cargo  of  freight  at  a  point  on  Colovin  Bay.  This  com- 
pleted, the  captain. steered  for  the  deep  sea, —  but  soon 
landed  us  high  and  dry  on  a  sandbar!  There  we  re- 
mained for  two  days  and  nights.  Finally,  by  extraordi- 
nary effort  at  high  tide,  and  a  favorable  wind,  we  were 
freed  from  our  dangerous  mooring.  It  was  fortunate 
that  we  got  off  when  we  did,  otherwise  we  should  have 
been  left  there  the  whole  winter,  for  the  wind  soon  shifted 
to  the  north  and  blew  the  water  out  of  the  bay. 

About  ten  miles  out  after  leaving  the  bar,  a  small 
steamboat  in  distress  was  discovered.  The  captain 
changed  his  course  for  it,  and  found  it  to  be  the  Fortune 
Hunter.  (  The  only  fortune  that  ever  came  to  it  was 
when  we  reached  it  that  day.)  The  engine  of  the  boat 
had  become  disabled,  and  it  was  drifting  to  sea  at  the 
mercy  of  the  wind  and  waves.  Our  vessel  finally  got 
near  enough  to  heave  a  line,  by  which  we  towed  the 
—  29  * 


466 


FORTY  YEARS    OF  ADVENTURES 


disabled  steamer  ashore.  The  result  of  our  delay  on  the 
sandbar  was  the  saving  of  the  lives  of  fifteen  helpless 
men. 

After  rescuing  the  Fortune  Hunter  we  proceeded  on  our 
journey  for  Dutch  harbor,  on  one  of  the  Aleutian  islands. 
That  night  the  equinoctial  storm  commenced  its  pranks 
in  that  almost  unknown  sea.  Our  captain  had  only  once 
before  been  over  the  route,  but  our  only  dependence  was 
upon  him.  The  billows  rolled  like  mountains;  the  space 
between  was  like  valleys,  while  the  ship  was  tossed  about 
in  every  direction.  Nearly  all  the  passengers  were  sea- 
sick, and  the  vessel  was  a  desolate,  dreary-looking  object. 

The  detention  on  the  sandbar  had  caused  us  to  run 
short  of  both  water  and  provisions.  During  the  storm 
the  crew  cursed,  and  threw  up  the  little  they  had  eaten. 
No  wonder !  for  the  food  provided  for  both  passengers  and 
crew  was  unfit  to  set  before  human  beings.  The  cooks 
were  filthy  in  their  habits,  and  the  vessel  was  overrun  with 
rats.  The  appearance  of  the  food  indicated  that  they  had 
free  access  to  everything  edible  on  board. 

Early  in  the  morning  of  the  fourth  day  out  from  Gulu- 
van  Bay,  we  were  surprised  to  find  ourselves  drifting 
among  the  Aleutian  Islands,  fully  fifty  miles  out  of  our 
course.  Every  time  the  vessel  plunged  down  into  the 
great  valleys  of  water,  we  expected  to  be  dashed  upon  the 
numerous  shoals,  which  we  were  surely  rapidly  approach- 
ing. Our  captain  was  a  courageous  fellow,  and  was  re- 
ported to  be  one  of  the  best  sailors  of  the  Pacific  ocean. 
He  did  not  appear  to  be  at  all  frightened,  but  was  very 
solicitous  regarding  our  possible  peril.  By  heaving  the 
lead  and  examining  his  charts,  he  soon  found  his  bearings, 
and  breathed  easier,  as  did  we  all,  when  he  turned  the 
vessel  about,  and  continued  on  the  proper  course. 

Before  noon  we  were  safely  landed  in  Dutch  harbor, 
where  we  took  coal  and  remained  until  the  terrible  gale 
had  somewhat  subsided.  After  we  landed,  both  captain 
and  crew  declared  it  was  the  most  terrific  storm  in  all 


AFLOAT  ON  A  LEAKY  SHIP 


407 


their  experience,  and  we  congratulated  ourselves  upon 
having  weathered  it  safely. 

While  at  Dutch  harbor  the  rats  began  to  abandon  the 
vessel,  and  upon  the  crew  noticing  it  their  superstitions 
were  aroused,  for  among  sailors  this  is  considered  one 
of  the  most  ominous  things  that  can  occur.  Many  of 
them  talked  among  themselves  of  doing  exactly  what  the 
rats  were  doing,  and  suggested  that  we  should  take  an- 
other vessel.  Finally  they  were  ridiculed  out  of  their 
notions,  and  we  sailed  away  on  the  second  day  after  our 
arrival.  After  passing  through  the  group  of  islands  the 
storm  increased  in  violence,  and  was  almost  as  terrific  as 
before.  On  the  evening  of  the  second  day,  when  the 
steward  went  below  into  the  storeroom  among  the  rats  for 
supplies,  he  came  rushing  frantically  back  and  reported  to 
the  captain  that  the  ship  was  in  a  sinking  condition,  with 
three  feet  of  water  in  the  hold.  Immediately  all  hands 
were  at  the  pumps,  every  bucket  on  board  called  into  re- 
quisition, and  both  captain  and  crew  and  such  of  the 
passengers  as  were  able  worked  till  nearly  morning,  hand- 
ling the  pumps  or  passing  up  water  from  the  hold,  and 
at  last  the  leak  was  gotten  under  control.  It  must  have 
been  a  more  serious  affair  than  the  passengers  imagined, 
for  both  the  captain  and  mate  passed  the  greater  portion 
of  the  night  bailing  out  with  the  rest  of  the  crew.  No 
wonder  the  rats  had  been  leaving,  for  the  ship  was  really 
in  a  sinking  condition  when  at  Dutch  harbor.  The  boat 
had  been  so  fearfully  thrashed  about  in  the  storm,  that 
when  she  was  rising  on  the  crest  of  a  wave  anyone  in  the 
hold  could  see  daylight  through  the  wrenched  sides.  It 
was  only  by  skillful  seamanship  and  willing  hands  that 
we  were  kept  afloat  until  reaching  our  destination. 


408 


FORTY  YEARS   OF  ADVENTURES 


Happy  was  everybody  on  board,  the  morning  of  the  6th 
day  of  October,  1898,  when  the  "  slow  bell  "  rang,  and  we 
ran  into  the  harbor  of  Seattle.  Daylight  had  hardly 
made  its  appearance,  but  no  sooner  was  the  boat  within 
jumping  distance  of  the  wharf  than  I  was  ashore.  Im- 
agine my  feelings  of  delight  at  realizing  that  I  was  once 
more  in  my  native  country.  But  how  strange  everything 
appeared  to  me !  I  hardly  knew  how  to  keep  on  the  side- 
walk, and  wras  often  in  the  middle  of  the  street  or  cross- 
ing a  back  yard.  Finally  I  found  a  telegraph  office, 
and  sent  messages  to  my  friends  that  I  was  not  dead, 
neither  had  I  been  sleeping.  It  was  unspeakable  delight 
to  me  to  hear  the  whistles  scream,  the  bells  ring,  the  buzz 
of  electric  street  cars,  and  all  the  other  sounds  of  civili- 
zation to  which  I  had  so  long  been  a  stranger.  One  of 
the  oddest  and  most  ridiculous  things  to  me  was  the  crow- 
ing of  roosters.  I  stopped  and  really  laughed  aloud,  as 
their  clarion  notes  and  flapping  of  wings  reached  my  ears. 
Then  the  cackling  of  hens  and  the  t 4  peeping"  of  little 
chickens  all  combined  to  make  it  a  concert  unfamiliar  to 
my  ears  for  a  long  time,  but  now  recalling  sweet  remem- 
brances of  my  childhood  days  on  the  old  farm. 

It  was  like  flying  through  space,  when  I  boarded  the 
lightning  express  train  for  Troy,  Kansas,  the  place  that 
I  had  left  many  years  previously.  It  was  the  home  of  my 
early  manhood.  I  could  hardly  wait  till  the  time  when 
I  should  meet  my  family  and  the  hosts  of  friends,  the 
young  men  and  women  of  long  ago.  Imagine  my  surprise, 
on  arriving,  at  being  invited  into  the  opera-house,  where 
a  public  reception  was  tendered  me.  When  escorted  to 
the  stage  and  I  looked  into  the  faces  of  dear  old  friends, 
I  was  thrilled  with  emotions  of  thanksgiving  that  are 
indescribable.  At  that  moment  the  pianist  touched  the 
keys,  and  the  instrument  seemed  to  say,  "  Mid  pleasures 
and  palaces  though  I  may  roam,  be  it  ever  so  humble, 
there's  no  place  like  home."  The  great  audience  arose 
and  sang  that  dear  old  song,  which  to  the  hearts  of  all 


"home,  sweet  home" 


409 


travelers  in  foreign  lands  is  most  precious.  A  prayer  of 
thanksgiving  was  offered,  after  which  all  joined  in  the 
song  of  songs,  that  fills  the  breasts  of  American  patriots 
more  than  all  others,  "  My  country  'tis  of  thee,  sweet  land 
of  liberty,  of  thee  I  sing."  And  no  person  ever  appreciated 
songs  and  native  land  more  than,  at  this  time,  did 


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